A Different Start
by Ezra Verwayn
Summary: What if Ash was more knowledgeable about pokemon before starting his journey? What if he got an opportunity like no other and decided to take it? Well here's to a different start for our Ash. COMASHIPPING! SLASH!
1. Chapter 1

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

A few things before you begin reading. Ash is older at the start of his journey than in cannon. He is 16 years of age. Ash will be a bottom in his relationships. He will also capture pokemon he had not during the cannon episodes. He will know or be taught how to use Aura since I feel like they really failed in using it to its potential in the episodes. If there are anymore details I'll be sure to address them as they come up.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

* * *

Today, he decided as he walked down a well worn path, was the day his new chapter in life would begin. He did his tests and passed the theory, written, and physical parts of the tests with flying colors. Then yesterday he had gotten confirmation that he could begin his journey. That brought him to today, walking down the path, to Samuel Oak Laboratory and PokeFields.

Today he would get his starter and set off into the unknown to discover the lands for himself and also to discover himself.

He trudged along uphill to the front doors where he could see three other trainers that wold start with him. Two males and a female. One of the males had spiky auburn hair and black eyes, his name was Gary Oak, his best friend and rival for the past ten years. The other male was Alex Grey his neighbors nephew, he had blond hair and brown eyes. The last trainer, Eliza Holmes, a newer resident of Pallet, she had light red hair and green eyes adorning a freckled face.

"Ash!" he heard Gary call out and waved down at him once his rival saw him, "About time you got here! Gramps wouldn't open the doors until all of us got here."

Ash Ketchum, dark black hair and red tinted honey whiskey eyes, laughed as he met up with the trio. "Sorry sorry," he said as he put his hands in his pocket, "You know how Mom is." His Mom, fiercely protective of him, wanted to try and talk him out of going once again.

"Ah that explains it then," he said as the doors to the building finally opened. Standing there was a tall older man with greying blond hair and kind black eyes, this is Professor Samuel Oak.

"Come in! Come in! I bet you all can't wait to get on the road," he said as he ushered the four of them in. The layout was a simple huge room with a few closed off rooms for lab work, but the majority of the room was an open concept. As they walked in Ash looked around and saw quite a few pokemon he knew were not from around Pallet and became even more eager to get out there and begin to befriend them all. "Now, as we do have one extra trainer in this batch of beginners, I wasn't able to prepare another regular starter. I will have to ask one of you to stay behind to get another starter for you. Any volunteers?" he asked once he had to trainers stop in front of a machine that held three balls.

The fours stayed silent as they looked among themselves wondering and hoping someone would speak up. It seemed like each of them had their hopes up in wanting one of the starters. Ash took a deep breath before speaking up without looking at the other three, "I'll stay behind." He didn't let any emotion fill the words as he couldn't believe he had said them.

He saw Oak look at him then smile in pride, "Very well dear boy," he said as he gestured for the other relieved three trainers to the machine, "In each of these balls holds a pokemon. There is the grass type, Bulbasaur. The water type pokemon, Squirtle. And last, but not least, the fire type pokemon Charmander. Eliza, ladies first."

She stepped forward a little hesitantly to the machine before picking up the first ball. She pressed the button and in a beam of red light a small green leafy pokemon was left standing once the light faded. The Bulbasaur let out a small grunt as it moved to inspect its new trainer before giving her a small nod.

Alex was next to step up and he immediately went for the last ball holding the Charmander. In the same flash of red light popped out a small orange lizard with sharp teeth and claws with a burning tail. The little lizard let out a small growl as it approached its trainer already accepting that Alex was his.

Gary was left for last. He sauntered up to the table and picked up the ball and with the smirk on his face he was happy he got the Squirtle. The small turtle like pokemon crossed his arms with a smirk on its own face. Ash was glad to see that they got along and that Gary wasn't treating it like he would have if Gary got him when he was younger.

"Now," Oak said breaking the moments between trainer and pokemon, "You three are almost ready to start your journeys. If you accept it, I want all of you to have a pokedex. It'll record pokemon you encounter and help you along the way as well as having a built in map of the region."

The three readily agreed to accept the device. Ash wondered briefly why he wasn't getting one, but brushed it off seeing as he hadn't even gotten his pokemon yet. He watched as trainer and pokemon left one right after the other leaving him and the Professor alone in their area of the lab.

"Ash," Oak began to say as the older man moved to stand in front of the teen. He placed his hands on Ash's shoulders as he spoke, "Staying back like that and giving up the opportunity to get a regional starter was really brave of you to do. I am really proud of you."

Ash had to hold in tears in his eyes as he heard this. Oak, growing up, had been his only male parental figure he ever had and to hear him say he was proud of him. Well, that really made him emotional. "Thank you," he said softly as he gave the older man a smile.

"No need for thanks, Ash. Now, I believe I said I would give you another pokemon; however, I have another proposition for you," he said as he guided Ash to the pastures in the back. The land Oak owned for the pokemon spread for miles and miles giving pokemon room to move and roam as well as live in a space that was perfect for them.

"What is it?" he asked as he looked up at him once they were outside.

"I want you to become a OFRT for me," Oak said as he gestured for Ash to sit on one of the picnic tables.

"OFRT?" he asked sitting at one of the table with an umbrella. He placed his hands on top of the table and clasped them together.

"On the Field Researcher and Trainer," he clarified sitting across from the teen, "You'll be able to go on your journey as you planned, but as a OFRT you'll have special tasks you would have to do for me, but you'll also have many privileges others don't. I already offered it to Gary, but he turned me down on it."

"What kind of tasks?" he asked as his interests were peaked.

"Such as having to transport certain pokemon and eggs or traveling to different regions to other Professors to get research or other things from them that can't be sent through the systems. Sometimes you'll be called in to handle a rogue pokemon or to research a certain habitat. Things like that," Oak explained as he pulled a tablet from his inner coat pocket to show him the different things and videos other trainers from over the years had given him, "You'll be payed of course. I am not asking you to do this for free. The limit for your team will be raised from six to twelve, and you'll also get full perks at the Centers for your pokemon as well as a TM pass."

"TM pass?" Ash asked as he hadn't heard of anything called a TM pass before.

"You'll get a pass so you can purchase up to five TMs a month," Oak said as a smile crossed his old face seeing that Ash was getting interested in it, "It replenishes every month."

He thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay I'll do it," he agreed as he took a deep breath, "But I haven't got a pokemon yet."

Oak smiled and got up, "Let's go back in. I have got the perfect pokemon for you," he said as he started walking back to the door with Ash following behind him, "Now, this particular pokemon I have had in my possession for a few weeks now. I caught him chewing on my electrical wires causing our systems to glitch. He wasn't friendly at all in the beginning to humans, but we got through to him. I was able to get him to agree to becoming a starter for a trainer."

"What kind of pokemon is it?" he asked as they entered a room Ash had never been in before. It was full of open electrical units and generators that fed electric pokemon.

"A Pikachu," he said as said pokemon approached the two human. It was average in size and covered in yellow fur with two brown stripes along its back and a lightning bolt tail. What caught Ash's attention was Pikachu's eye. A sharp painful looking scar ran straight through the right eye, but miraculously it didn't seem to have affected the eye at all.

"What happened?" Ash asked as he looked between the pokemon and the Professor.

"It appeared that Pikachu had a previous trainer. Not a very good one at that. From what we could gather the trainer abandoned Pikachu after a battle that left Pikachu with the scar," Oak said as Pikachu jumped onto the table to get a closer look at Ash, "When Pikachu was friendly enough with us he let us take care of his eye. It was badly infected and we had to be permitted to use Ditto Cells to try and save the eye. As you can see it worked."

Ash looked down at the curious Pikachu before slowly reaching forwards and holding out his hand palm down for Pikachu to sniff him. "Pikachu," he said softly as he smiled down at him, "Want to go on an adventure with me?"

The yellow mouse tilted his head slightly and a few silent moments passed before he gave Ash a small nod making Ash beam down at him. Oak smiled and nodded at the duo, "I knew you two would be just fine together. Now, as you have accepted to being a OFRT for me, instead of just getting a standard pokedex you'll get something a bit better as well." He left the room leaving Ash and Pikachu to hurry and catch up to the fast old man.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he caught up to Oak, "I thought that the pokedexes were all Kanto had."

"That is true yes, but recently the League has been in a trade agreement with the Unova region seeing as we need help getting a little more technology advanced," Oak said as they stepped into his office, "Each Professor and Researcher in Kanto has been given a trial time to use these," he pulled out a device from the safe he kept behind his desk, "Xtransceiver."

"Xtransceiver?" he asked as he hadn't heard of anything like it before. Pikachu jumped up on the desk and sniffed the device curiously.

"Yes, a device that a user wears on their wrists that can take pictures, send and receive messages, take calls, has a built in map, and can access the PC system," Oak said as he held the device out, "And now that you are a OFRT this one is yours."

Ash took the watch like device and carefully attached it to his wrist. He pressed a button on the outside of it making the screen light up and an extra screen pop out of the side. "Woah," he said as he the screen showed him the time along with a few little apps showing a telephone, a speech bubble, an egg, and a camera, "Thanks Professor! This will be so helpful."

"You're welcome my lad," he said smiling down at him, "Now that you have your equipment and your partner, you are ready to begin your journey. So go forth Ash and explore to your hearts content. Just remember to call from time to time and don't forget your mother."

Ash nodded as Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder. "I'll call soon! I'll go see Mom before I go. My bag is still there," he said as he pocketed the pokedex the professor handed him. He said his goodbyes before hurrying out of the building. He squinted at the bright sun for a moment before coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill. On one end of the road he saw the entrance to Pallet while the other led to the Route leading out and into the wilderness.

"Well Pikachu, shall I see what this can do?" he asked as he took out the pokedex and waved it slightly to his new partner. The yellow mouse nodded and jumped to the ground to sit still for Ash. Ash knelt in front of Pikachu and readied his pokedex to scan Pikachu.

_Pikachu_

_The electric mouse pokemon. It's in its nature to store electricity. It feels stressed now and then if it's unable to fully discharge the electricity. While sleeping, it generates electricity in the sacs in its cheeks. If it's not getting enough sleep, it will be able to use only weak electricity._

_This pokemon is male and knows the moves: Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Quick Attack, Electro Ball, Double Team, Agility, and Thunder. It's ability is Static._

Ash whistled as he read over the information, "That is an impressive move pool," he said as he reached forward and rubbed Pikachu's ear softly making the electric mouse let out a soft sigh, "Let's get going to my house to get my things. I want to get outta here soon."

Pikachu nodded and hopped up onto his shoulder as he didn't know the direction to his trainers den. Ash hurried down the road to Pallet. He greeted neighbors and pokemon alike until he made it to his house. It was a ordinary two story house with a large garden in the back. Standing in the garden was his mother's pokemon Mr. Mime, "Hello Mr. Mime!" Ash greeted as he walked past with a small wave. He heard the pokemon greet back as he entered the house.

"Mom I'm back!" he announce as he walked into the house. His Mom, with long auburn hair and kind honey whiskey eyes, greeted him from the kitchen.

"Oh Ashy! You got a Pikachu?!" she said as he entered the kitchen to the smell of his mom's cookies.

"Yup!" he said as he smiled and then began explaining the opportunity he had gotten from Professor Oak.

"Just be careful," she asked as she saw how excited her son was. She packed a few cookies in a bag along with some sandwiches and other things for Ash as well as a few on the road cook books showing him things he can make with things in the wilderness. He hurried and grabbed his things before giving his mom a hug and a kiss goodbye.

"Well, Pikachu," he said as he reached the beginning of the Route out of Pallet he looked at Pikachu, who was perched on his shoulder, "Let's go on an adventure."


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

A/N: It may seem in this chapter that Ash is catching too many pokémon at once, but he needs to establish a team in the beginning before the catching can slow down.

* * *

Ash and Pikachu had kept walking through the last half of the day only stopping for bathroom breaks or for food before continuing on their journey. On the route they were on it was blessedly covered with trees to break up the sun's harsh rays. Ash and Pikachu had spotted a few pokemon and a few that would actually let Ash scan them with his pokédex after offering them a bit of food. It wasn't until the sun started to set that Ash and his mouse ran into a rather large pinkish purple pokemon.

It had large ears with a rather large horn and a good set of teeth. Ash could see its barbs stand on point as they approached as it tried to make itself seem more dangerous so Pikachu wouldn't attack it. Ash was shocked at it since Nidoran were usually skittish pokemon that ran away from others not in its herd. "Pikachu?" he asked as he looked at his buddy. Pikachu eyed the pokemon before nodding and getting in a fighting stance.

"Alright! Let's start with Quick Attack! Avoid the barbs!" he called out as he moved back slightly to give Pikachu room to fight. This was also the first time he fought with the yellow mouse. With a small growl Pikachu rushed the Nidoran causing the pinkish pokemon to try and dodge the attack, but Pikachu was a bit too fast as the yellow mouse tackled it in its side. The Nidoran let out a small squeak as it was thrown into a tree with a loud bang.

"Now! Pikachu use a low powered Thunder!" Ash said as he eyed the slightly trembling pokemon as the Nidoran got up from the harsh attack. The mouse charged electricity making his cheek sacs glow before letting out a screech with his lighting striking the Nidoran. It wasn't too long after that; that the Nidoran fainted with slight twitches to his muscles. Ash grabbed a pokeball and threw it giving small thanks to the homing device that was in the machines system as the red and white ball tapped the downed pokemon to suck it in.

He watched the ticking pokeball in anticipation as Pikachu sat back on his hind feet. After three clicks the red light on the balls button faded and clicked signaling a successful capture. "Yes!" Ash said as he pumped his fist. He walked over and grabbed the ball before putting it in his ball belt, "Good job Pikachu! We got a new friend!" he said as Pikachu jumped up on his shoulder with a satisfied coo.

Ash decided to wait to release Nidoran after he was healed at a Center since he didn't really have any potions. His little town didn't have a PokéMart in it and he forgot to remind his mom to get him some before he left. He did keep an eye out on helpful berries out in the wild and if he found an Oran berry he would then release Nidoran to officially meet his new pokemon.

"Let's camp here Pikachu," he said as he stopped in a little clearing. It was bare and void of any evidence of pokémon so Ash thought it would be a great place to camp. He quickly gathered some wood so he could cook some food for them both since he wanted to save his gas camp cooker in case it rained and he needed to camp out in a cave. "What do you want to eat?" he asked Pikachu as he pulled out a few berries he gathered along the way, unfortunately he didn't find any Oran berries or any Cheri berries, but he did have Nanabs, Sitrus, and Pecha. Unfortunately he couldn't use the Sitrus on Nidoran since the pokemon needed to be awake for it.

Ash yawned and stretched as he watched Pikachu choose a Sitrus berry for him to chop and sprinkle on his food. He quickly chopped it and added to some pokéfood before getting his own food. Both human and pokémon scarfed their food down before tucking in for the night.

* * *

The next morning held no excitement for Ash and his pokemon as he groggily got up from where he slept and packed his things so they could head out of their journey. Pikachu was more awake than Ash and so the yellow mouse took it upon himself to keep a look out as his barely awake trainer started to head to Viridian.

They battled a few times during their walk with other trainers and managed to get enough money to get a few supplies when they reached Viridian. They also came across a herbalist that was selfless enough to heal their poisonous teammate so now Ash was able to train Nidoran. After making sure Nidoran wanted to stay with him, since he would never force a pokemon to do something they didn't want, he scanned the pokemon.

_Nidoran- Entry #32_

_The Poison Pin pokemon Nidoran has developed muscles for moving its ears. Thanks to them, the ears can be freely moved in any direction and even the slightest sound does not escape this Pokémon's notice. When angered or in defense barbs extend out from the body and drip in harsh poison. The size of the horn indicates how strong the poison is._

_This Nidoran is male and knows the moves, Leer, Peck, Double Kick, Quick Attack, and Poison Sting with an egg move Confusion. Nidoran also has the ability, Poison Point._

"We'll aren't you a strong one?" Ash commented as he knelt in front of the purple-ish pokemon making the pokemon preen with the attention. Ash reached out and scratched behind one of the large ears being careful not to touch the barbs. "Let's get going. I want to get to Viridian before nightfall," he said as he stood, "Do you want to stay out with us or be in your pokeball?"

Nidoran tilted his head before turning around to walk in the direction Ash was heading in. "Walk it is," Ash said as he smiled and slowed his pace so Nidoran, with his stubby legs, could keep up with them. They walked leisurely through the path enjoying the sun and the breeze as well as a few more battles before they finally made it to Viridian.

The town itself was small, but it was still bigger than Pallet. In the center of the town was the City Hall where people could go complain about things, or that was what his mother had told him. Towards the back of the town was the large Gym that was suppose to be the first Gym trainers fought, but the Leader of the Gym decided that they had to get all the other badges before challenging him. From what he remembered there was also a Move Tutor, an Academy, and of course the PokéCenter and Mart.

Ash hummed as he made his way to the Center so he could get Pikachu and Nidoran fully healed before moving onto the Viridian forest. As he entered the large red building the power went out sending the trainers in the building into a frenzy and Nurse Joy into despair as she tried to get the power back on.

"Oh no! Oh no!" he heard her cry out as he walked up to the counter.

"Nurse Joy! Are you alright?" he called out as he put his hands on the counter and leaned forward. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and landed beside his hands as his ears twitched as if he was trying to listen for something.

"I'm not alright! The back up generator is out and all of the critical Pokémon depend on the equipment to keep them going," she said as she walked out of the back to standing before Ash, "I can't even get them transferred to other Centers!"

Ash hummed softly as he tried to think of something he could do to help, but before he could suggest anything the double glass doors shattered as a BOOM! Sounded from the front of the Center. He turned around in time to see bits of glass fly towards him.

"Tsss!" he hissed out as he brought his arms up to protect his face only to get his arms slashed with the glass and other debris. In the smoke he could make out three figures walking towards them.

_Prepare for trouble!_

_And make it double!_

_To protect the world from devastation!_

_To unite all peoples within our nation!_

_To denounce the evils of truth and love!_

_To extend our reach to the stars above!_

_Jessie!_

_James!_

_Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!_

_Surrender now, or prepare to fight!_

_Meowth!_

_That's right!_

Ash lowered his bleeding arms in confusion before the smoke started to clear and the three figures became visible to his eyes. A woman, long redish pink hair and clear blue eyes, stood beside a man, with lavender blue hair and greens eyes, and a Meowth. "Who are you?" Ash asked as Pikachu moved to stand in front of him while Nidoran hissed and extended his barbs that were starting to drip with poison, "What are you doing here?"

He heard the woman giggle obnoxiously before he was given an answer, "We're Team Rocket and we're here to steal the pokémon in the Center. So you, little Twerp, can back off and let us do our job," she said as she grabbed her pokéball.

The pokémon she released was snakelike in appearance. Its purple scales shone brightly in the florescent lights with a yellow band of scales around its neck with a yellow rattler and bright poison yellow eyes. It rose up glaring at them with a loud hiss and a show of it's fangs dripping in poison.

The lavender haired male smirked and pulled out his own pokéball and threw it releasing another purple pokémon. Its ball like form floated in the air covering in a green gaseous air that smelled foul. On its belly was a white skull and cross bones.

"Now, Ekans darling, take care of the Twerp and his pathetic pokémon. We've got a job to do," she said as she brought her hand up to her face as a sinister smile graced her lips. Her snake pokémon lunged forward quickly barring its fangs making both Ash and Pikachu dodge out of the way.

"Pikachu! Quick Attack then Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled as Nidoran also managed to get out of the snakes way only to get in the way of Koffing, "Nidoran use Quick Attack then Double Kick! Get it away from you!" With a sharp grunt his pokémon did as ordered and with a dash dodged the floating gaseous ball before dealing an attack on it making it go flying into its trainer.

"Oof!" the blue haired man grunted as he was squashed under his pokémon.

"Pikachu! Iron Tail then Thunderbolt! Send them flying!"

Pikachu growled an affirmative before smacking his silver glowing tail into the snake sending it into the female trainer and the Meowth. Pikachu crouched in front of the group as he gathered electricity in his cheek pouches before yelling and releasing a thunderbolt large enough the group went flying and the power to the building came back on. The yellow mouse shook its electrified fur as the smoke cleared out of the room showing the devastation of the room.

Chairs and couches were ripped and strewn around the floor as were glass from the windows and the door. Deep scratches tainted the usually pristine floor and blood dripped from his arm staining the floor. Nurse Joy, who had hid in the back approached him with hesitancy as she saw the still irritated Pikachu and Nidoran, whose barbs dripped in poison.

"Dear?" she said softly as she stopped a couple of feet away from him before she saw the blood dripping from his arm prompting her to say, "I may not be a doctor for humans, but I can treat your arm so it doesn't get infected until you get to Pewter."

"Thanks. I would appreciate that," he said as his arms gave him a harsh throb now that the adrenaline was leaving his system. He clicked his tongue making his pokémon relax with the soft sound. Ash had been using different tones of tongue clicks as training for his pokémon just in case he was in a situation that he wasn't able to talk. He followed the Nurse to the back where she pulled a few bits of glass from both of his arms before cleaning them with alcohol and wrapped them for him. He looked at them and watched as the pristine white bandages slowly turned red with blood.

"The bleeding should stop in a bit now that there is some pressure on the wounds. Later tonight before you go to bed be sure to change the bandages and put some more of the ointment on it," she said handing him a jar of white cream that faintly smelled like mint and aloe.

"Thank you," he said as he took the jar and gave the Nurse a smile, "Are you going to be alright? Do I need to stay any longer?"

Nurse Joy hummed softly and thought for a moment, "Well, you'll need to stay to give an officer your statement about what happened," she said as she stood up and led Ash to the front where there were a few officers already in the building.

Ash sighed as he approached an officer and began telling her what happened and his involvement in it. He gave her his number in case they needed to reach him for anything before deciding to leave town, after buying some much needed supplies from the market, before his body made him want to stay to sleep in a bed.

It wasn't until about midday that he decided to stop for a break near a rather large body of water. If he didn't know any better he would have thought he was at an ocean rather than a lake seeing as he couldn't see the other side of the body of water. He hummed softly before sitting down by the water and took off his shoes and socks. Soaking his sore feet seemed like a good idea to him.

Ash sighed softly as he sipped his feet in the cool water relishing as the throbbing in his feet slowed down to a stop. He releasing his Nidoran as Pikachu went to sniff at a few things in bushes nearby. Nidoran plopped himself down beside Ash letting out a yawn as he watched his Trainer dig through his bag to grab his retractable fishing pole.

Ash baited his hook before casting his line. He hummed softly as he slightly moved his feet as he waited for a bite on his line. The sun shone through the leaves of the tree he sat under shading him, but also keeping him warm from the cool breeze. He watched Pikachu take a few sips of water before bounding off to play with some of the more brave wild pokémon that actually wanted to get close to a already caught pokémon with its trainer close by.

He waited for a while before his line was tugged hard enough to almost jerk his pole out of his hand. "Erk!" he grunted and gripped the pole hard and tugged it once before reeling in as fast as he could. He eased off when needed and reeled in when he felt slack and before he knew it he reeled in what caught his bait in the first place.

The pokémon's scales shown a bright blue and twinkled in the sunlight thanks to the water that coated the scales. It had three fin like appendages on either side of its face which held two bright red eyes. Its mouth extended from its face in an almost trumpet like appearance and its tail curled upwards towards its body with one singular fin on its back.

"Horsea?" Ash asked curiously as he knew Horseas were not usually found this far inland as they preferred the temperatures of the waters by the Seafoam Islands. "Wanna battle?" he asked as he saw the glare that the blue seahorse like pokémon gave him. The Horsea gave him a loud snort and blasted the area by his feet with a dark colored ink.

"You got it! Pikachu! To battle!" Ash commanded as he got out of the water and stepped away from the edge of the land to give his yellow mouse room to move. He would have let Nidoran battle, but unfortunately the poison pokémon doesn't have any ranged moves. "Pikachu! Let's give this Horsea a good battle," he said as he dipped his hat down a little lower to remove the glare from the water that shone in his eyes, "Use Double Team then Quick Attack! You need to keep away from any blasts of ink!"

Pikachu growled out an affirmative before copies of the yellow mouse appeared surrounding the duo. Pikachu kept the copies up as he appeared and tackled Horsea in different directions as he dodged blasts of ink and water. The Horsea seemed to get a bit irritated before it let out a medium sized bright orange ball.

Ash's eyes widened before yelling out, "Pikachu! Dodge that's Dragon Rage!" The yellow mouse squeaked out before rushing to the side letting his copies dissipate as he dodged the ball letting it blast onto the ground setting the grass ablaze and creating a small crater. "Pikachu let's end this before the forest is on fire," he said as he saw the spreading flames, "Use Thunder on the water!"

Pikachu nodded and charged his cheek pouches before sending a shock of electricity to the water making the Horsea twitch and cry out before falling unconscious and floating on the surface of the water. Ash quickly threw a pokéball at the Horsea. He held his breath as he watched the ball.

_Wobble._

_Wobble._

_Wobble._

_Ding!_

Ash smiled widely as he whooped in happiness, "Yes!" He waded out into the water to retrieve the ball before cupping his hands and threw water onto the grass to cool down the now dying embers. "Good job Pikachu," he said as he scratched his buddy behind his ears, "Nidoran. You'll have the next battle." He looked over and saw Nidoran perk up and give him a chirp.

"How about we officially meet our new teammate?" Ash asked as he moved to sit back on the edge of the bank. Nidoran chirped as Pikachu sat beside him on the grass. He smiled and threw the ball back towards the water and released the unconscious pokémon. After digging through his pack he grabbed a revive and a potion to heal any wounds. He first sprayed the potion before breaking the revive over the trumpet-like mouth.

After waiting a few moments, Ash was greeted with blinking red orbs looking up at him. "You feel any better?" he asked as he sat back to give the Horsea room to move around. The Horsea crooned softly before nodding, "May I scan you?" he asked as he showed the Horsea his pokédex. The creature looked at it with confusion before it nodded.

_Horsea- Entry #116_

_Horsea eats small insects and moss off of rocks. If the ocean current turns fast, this Pokémon anchors itself by wrapping its tail around rocks or coral to prevent being washed away. If Horsea senses danger, it will reflexively spray a dense black ink from its mouth and try to escape. This Pokémon swims by cleverly flapping the fin on its back._

_This Horsea is male and knows the moves, Bubble, Smokescreen, and Water Gun with an egg move, Dragon Rage. This Horsea has the ability, Swift Swim._

Ash hummed and nodded, "Well little guy, you are very very strong. Now we just need to get you evolved enough for you to be able to be out of water. Right now, I'll only be able to call you out when there's a body of water nearby." He smiled down at the Horsea as the small creature chirped and nodded.

Ash and his pokémon stayed in the area for a while longer until the sunlight began to fade. The small teen quickly got his tent set up and gave his pokemon some food before they went to bed. He sat in his sleeping bag side awake as he watched the moon ascend into the sky his thoughts raced through his head. He wondered briefly if he would be a good trainer but then shook his head before turning to lay on his side. His Pikachu stretched for a moment in his sleep before curling up into a ball and Ash couldn't help but smile and put his hand on the static-filled fur. He took a deep breath then closed his eyes as he let his body relax and fall into Morpheus' realm.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

* * *

Ash wiped his forehead of sweat as he looked down at his Xtransceiver to make sure he was on the correct path. He hummed softly letting his arm fall down to his side. It was the middle of the day and it was really hot with not a single breeze blowing through the trees making the forest he was in weirdly silent. Well, it was silent until he heard a feminine scream.

The scream even made his Pikachu perk up before running off to it making Ash follow quickly behind the yellow mouse. They rushed through trees and bushes until they made it to a large lake, though it wasn't as large as the lake he caught Horsea at, and a girl cowering in front of an angry Gyarados.

"Graaaaaa!"

"Pikachu! Quick Thunderbolt at the Gyarados!" Ash called out startling the girl and making the Gyarados turn to him. Pikachu let out an affirmative before shooting a high powered streak of lightning at the large water serpent making it shriek in pain. Ash watched out of the corner of his eye as his Pikachu shot bolt after bolt at the Gyarados as he helped the girl away from the water.

"You okay?" Ash asked looking her over for any injuries. Her orange hair, jean shorts, red suspenders, and yellow tank top were soaked, but he didn't see any injuries.

"Yeah, yeah," she said a little breathlessly as she clenched at his shirt, "Wh-What about your Pikachu?" She asked as she watched the little mouse tease the already angry Gyarados. The large water serpent had started attacking back sending large bouts of water trying to hit Pikachu.

"He's fine. He's just playing around," Ash said as he chuckled knowing his Pikachu was having some fun. During the last few days with Pikachu he knew the yellow mouse wasn't even using his full strength in the Thunderbolts. That was why he decided that Pikachu would be a last resort pokémon in gym battles until the others caught up with Pikachu in terms of strength. "Pikachu it's time to stop playing!" he called out and saw Pikachu send him an affirmative with a wag of his tail, "Volt Tackle! Send it back to the middle of the lake!"

The girl couldn't help, but think that it wasn't possible for a tiny pokémon like Pikachu to send a larger pokémon like Gyarados back that far until she actually saw the yellow mouse do it. "Kyaaa!" Pikachu yelled as he charged up electricity to surround his body before running and tackling Gyarados sending the twenty foot pokémon back towards the middle of the lake just like his trainer wanted. Pikachu waited tense at the edge of the lake in case Gyarados would come back, but after a few tense moments he relaxed and shook out his fur before turning around and ran back to his trainer.

"Good job," Ash said as he handed Pikachu an Oran berry. He gave the electric charged fur a scratch before turning to the girl. "I'm Ash," he said introducing himself as he held out a hand for her to shake.

"Misty," she said as she was helped to her feet before commenting in a slightly unbelievable voice, "Um that's one powerful mouse you got there."

"Thanks, but I can't be credited with any of it. I just got Pikachu a few days ago," Ash said as he watched Misty grab her things, "So how did you end up being almost eaten by an angry Gyarados?"

Misty shrugged on her bag as she folded her fishing pole and put it on a clip on her hip before responding, "I was fishing and got a bite. When I reeled it in it was Gyarados and none of the pokémon I have on hand could defeat it. I wasn't expecting a Gyarados to be in a lake that small. I thought they were all in oceans, but nonetheless thank you Ash for saving me. If it weren't for you I'd be Gyarados food."

"No problem," Ash said as he walked with her back to the path with Pikachu back on his shoulder, "I would suggest that you don't fish there until your pokémon are ready to fight it."

Misty couldn't help but nod and laugh before asking, "So you said you got Pikachu a few days ago, how long have you been a trainer? How did he get so powerful so quickly?"

Ash bit his lip as he reached up to scratch Pikachu behind his ear, "Professor Oak had him before I did, but before that Pikachu had a trainer that abandoned him after getting an injury. Pikachu survived fevered and infected until Professor Oak found him and got enough trust from Pikachu to help him. Professor Oak had to use Ditto Cells to heal him, but after being healed Pikachu agreed to be my pokémon," he explained as they walked down the path towards Pewter, "I'm kind of glad the trainer abandoned Pikachu, as bad as it is to say, but if they didn't I wouldn't have the opportunity to have such an amazing pokémon as Pikachu as one of my best friends."

He heard Pikachu chitter softly in his ear as he felt the yellow mouse nuzzle against his head making his hair stand a bit from the static. He knew his buddy felt the same, and he was glad that Pikachu gave human companionship a second chance. He cleared his throat softly as the atmosphere between the two humans and pokémon fell into a comfortable silence. They walked together for a few hours before the trail they were on split and they parted way from Misty who decided to go to another fishing location.

He bade her a farewell before walking the way his map told him would take him to Pewter. He checked the time on his watched and decided that he could talk a bit more since Pewter was so close and sure enough he made it to the town right before nightfall. "What do ya say Pikachu? To the PokéCenter first or see where the Gym is before going to the Center?" he asked Pikachu as he walked on cobbled streets.

"Kya," Pikachu cooed softly as he ruffled his fur and tapped Ash once on the head.

"The Center it is then," he said as he looked around for any signs for the Center and saw one to follow. It didn't take him long to find the red roofed building to enter. Going inside he was greeted with a cool breeze and loud chatter from a few trainers in the waiting area.

One trainer was a brunette with a large mouth and dark eyes while the other two trainers were identical to each other with blue hair and green eyes. He rolled his eyes at their loud chatter before ignoring them thus not seeing the brunette narrow his eyes at him. "Hello Nurse Joy," Ash said as he reached the counter and saw her coming from the back.

"Hello dear," she greeted with a smile, "How can I help you this evening?"

"Can I have a room?" he asked as he put his hands on the counter with his pokédex ready for when she needed it to sign him in for a room.

"Of course. I just need some form of identification," she said before being handed the 'dex, "Thank you." she slid the 'dex into a reader slot and signed him in before telling him his room number.

"Thanks Nurse Joy," he said taking back his 'dex and grabbing the key for his room. When he turned around he was greeted with the brunette and the twins that were talking loudly when he walked in.

"Got a 'tude with us kid?" the brunette asked as he crossed his arms over his chest all the while popping gum in his mouth.

"No. I don't even know who you are," Ash said as he felt Pikachu get tense on his shoulder.

"Well when you came in it seemed like it, boy-o," the brunette said as he popped his gum again, "You know with you rolling your eyes. So I'll ask again, you got a problem with us?"

"No," Ash said as he met the dark eyes with his own, "Now, if you don't mind I would like to go to my room for the night."

"Oh I do mind," the brunette said as the twins moved to either side of Ash, "I do think you got a problem with us and there's one of two ways we can deal with this. I can either beat the shit out of ya or my pokémon can beat the shit out of yours. How would you like your beating?"

Ash bit his lip softly and before he could answer he heard Nurse Joy behind him speak up, "There won't be any beating up anyone boys," she said sternly, "if you don't want the cops being called on you that is. However, if you must settle this with a pokémon battle there's a field out back. I won't have any fighting in the Center."

Ash sighed softly at this before telling the jerk that he'll battle with him if it'll get him out of his face. The twins chuckled as they escorted Ash to the back field with the brunette leading them. "So," Ash said as he went to stand on one side of the field, "What are the requirements for this battle?"

"One against three. No subs. No potions. No revives or other items," the brunette said as he smirked thinking that they had this battle in the bag, "Oh and the name is Dylan Graham. These two are Jacob and Joshua Byrne."

"Ash Ketchum," Ash simply said before letting Pikachu jump onto the field knowing that his other two pokémon wouldn't have the stamina or strength to fight three on one. He hoped his Pikachu was ready.

"Growlithe/Machop/Geodude!"

Ash took note of the pokémon in front of him. The first one was a black striped orange puppy pokémon with tan colored fur on its head, chest, and tail that he knew if trained right could be really hard to beat once it was evolved. The other two he didn't know a lot about. The second pokémon was short and stood on two legs like a human would and had a strong muscled build to its body while the third pokémon looked like an ordinary rock he could walk past, but it had arms.

"Pikachu, let's get the Growlithe out first," he said softly at almost a whisper so the trio couldn't hear him, "Iron Attack." Pikachu twitched his ears letting Ash know he heard before be burst into action letting his tail glow a silver gleam as he dashed toward the unsuspecting pup. Pikachu smacked his iron hard tail into Growlithe's side making the pup yelp as it flew back knocked out for the count from the attack and impact to the ground before he had to dodge as the Machop kicked out at him.

Pikachu dashed back to his trainer as he kept an eye on the other two pokémon. "Dodge!" Ash yelled as he saw the Geodude use Rock Throw to send sharp rocks Pikachus' way, "Use Electro Ball on the Machop then Iron tail on the Geodude."

Ash watched as Pikachu charged a ball of electricity on his tail before sending it Machops' way just barely hitting it as it dodged before the yellow mouse dashed his way to the Geodude whacking it away with his tail.

"Take Down!"

"Brick Break!"

Ash narrowed his eyes as he saw an opportunity then smirked, "Pikachu hold!" he yelled, "Wait there until I say!" He saw Pikachu give him a confused look before nodding and staying where he was at. Ash's smirked widened as he saw the Machop and Geodude get closer and closer to Pikachu from either side of his pokémon. He also saw the twin smirking watching the same thing happen before the smirks fell when Ash gave Pikachu the command, "Jump!"

Pikachu quickly followed through and jumped high just as Machop and Geodude would have hit him, but instead hit each other making the other pokémon faint from the powered collision. When he landed Pikachu rushed to Ash's side slightly ruffled and dirty, but not injured.

"I would like my winnings now," Ash said as he held out his hand with his 'dex in it knowing that since this was an official issued battle in front of a witness, and seeing as how said witness watched the battle through the window, the three had to give Ash his winnings of one hundred and fifty dollars each.

Ash stood there as the three grumbled and transferred the winnings to Ash's account before hightailing it out of the field after collecting their pokémon. He chuckled softly as he picked up Pikachu and carried him into the Center all the while praising him on the fight. He let a very happy Nurse Joy check Pikachu over before bidding her a goodnight. He walked tiredly up the stairs to the next floor to his room where he released Nidoran on the bed and Horsea into a filled water tank in the room where his water buddy had enough room to swim.

"Pikachu, you need a bath before you can go to sleep," Ash said to the dirty Pikachu with a little smile of his face knowing Pikachu didn't like getting wet. Pikachu protested showing Ash he could get clean by licking his fur, but Ash knew he was too dirty and just licking wouldn't get him clean. "Not this time Buddy. You need a warm bath and soap," he said as he pick Pikachu up to carry, "Nidoran do you want a bath too?" he asked before entering the bathroom and hearing a soft thump and some movement let him know that Nidoran was following him.

Once the poison type pokémon was in the bathroom he closed the door so Pikachu couldn't escape then turned the water on so it could warm up as he searched for shampoo. He hummed softly as Nidoran flopped down on the rug in front of the tub and Pikachu perched himself on the counter. "Mint or Apples," he said as he found two bottles of unused shampoos in the cabinet under the sink. Grabbing both he turned to Nidoran to let him sniff both to pick from and surprisingly the poison type picked mint.

He nodded and plugged the water so the tub could fill before he grabbed a towel and a rag to wash and dry his pokémon. He stopped the water and carefully picked up and placed Nidoran in the water making sure not to prick himself on the poison barbs. He let Nidoran get use to the water before he started washing the pokémon noting that there were a few loose and dry scales ready to shed and after picking those off he saw slightly darker purple scales underneath. Ash smiled when he saw those. It meant that all their training was paying off and that Nidoran was getting close to evolving.

"I need to check how big your horn is getting Nidoran and see of there are any stretched scales around the base as well as check your front teeth," Ash commented, "You look like you're going to evolve soon with all these darker scales coming in." Nidoran nodded excitedly as he saw a few scales float past his head in the water. He let out a few grunts as he tapped foot to foot wanting the bath to hurry so Ash could measure his horn and check his front teeth. Ash chuckled and unplugged the drain so he could rinse Nidoran with fresh water.

After rinsing and drying Nidoran off he grabbed his back pack from where he dropped it by the door for his journal, pen, and a measuring tape. He knelt by his clean Nidoran and opened the journal to the page he needed. This journal was filled with pages about his Nidoran that he wrote for Professor Oak to look over next time he was in Pallet. He picked up the measuring tape and measured the girth from base to tip before measuring length wise of the pokémon's horn before looking to see if there were any stretched scales before checking to see of there were any shrinking on his front teeth. Professor Oak had told him a few years ago that a Nidorans' front teeth, also known as their egg teeth, would shrink a bit before evolution since they would need to get use to smaller front teeth and longer back fangs upon evolution.

"Well Nidoran, your horn has gotten a bit longer, but the thickness hasn't changed any. Your egg teeth haven't started shrinking either," Ash said as he wrote a few things down in the journal, "I'll look at them again in a couple of days to see if anything changes, but I think you're in the very, very early stages of evolution."

Nidoran nodded and let out a soft grunt before trying to look down his snout to see if he can see his own horn. Ash chuckled and left Nidoran to do what he wanted as he rinsed out the tub and got it ready for Pikachu's bath. "Come on Pikachu, you saw how fast it was for Nidoran," Ash said as he picked up a protesting Pikachu, "I'll use the blow dryer afterwards," he tempted Pikachu knowing how much the yellow mouse liked the heated air on his fur.

He felt Pikachu go limp in his arms and he knew he got the yellow mouse to agree with a bath. "Now mint or Apple?" he asked holding out the bottles for Pikachu to sniff not surprised that the electric type picked apple, "Alright let's wash you quickly so we can get to the blow dry."

He saw Pikachu give him pleading eyes to hurry once he was set in waist high water. Chuckling Ash did hurry to bathe Pikachu glad that despite how dirty he was he didn't need to change the water. Once Pikachu was out of the water he shook his fur out causing water droplets to fly through the room. "Chu!" Pikachu exclaimed as he sneezed from a drop of water falling on his nose making Ash chuckle once more.

"Okay I think it's blow dryer time," he said as he set Pikachu on the counter to use the built in blow dryer on its low setting to dry the wet fur. Once dry and fluffed up Pikachu set to the task of taming the fur down as his trainer picked him up only to place him on the bed.

"Nidoran do you want to sleep on the bed?" Ash asked as he gestured to the bed before getting a small nod from the poison type. He smiled and picked up the pokémon to put him on the bed before showering quickly so he could go to bed himself. He smiled as he fell asleep to the soft rumble of his Horsea sleeping in the water and the smell of mint and apple gracing his nose.

* * *

The next morning greeted Ash to the site of a busy town and people singing along the streets as children played not too far from parental vision. Everywhere he turned he saw someone doing something and not a one was just sitting down enjoying the nice breeze. He wasn't much better as he made his way quickly to a good training area Nurse Joy was all to happy to give him directions to. He had decided that morning after he got up that he could give his pokémon some training before they challenged the gym. He wants to make sure Nidoran was sure enough of himself that he could fight and win.

Once he was a bit a ways back in Viridian Forest near a small pond he let out Nidoran and Horsea. "Alright guys! Let's get some training in today and if we're at a good enough point we'll try the Gym tomorrow," Ash said once he got their attention, "Nidoran I want you to try and get started on Horn Attack so pick a tree and start ramming it with your horn as you focus all your strength and energy into it. Horsea I want you to work on Bubble Beam. Use your Bubble attack, but instead of just one bubble at a time try making into a stream of bubbles. Pikachu, I want you to learn Slam the name explains all you have to do to learn it. I got a combo move planed if you can learn that move."

After his pokémon got their training plans they moved away from each other to start working on their moves as Ash moved to sit under a tree to plan out their route after they leave Pewter. He would like to visit Rota since it was close by and he had a year and a half before he could enter the Indigo Plateau Conference and before that he needed the eight badges to even qualify, but as he thought before he had a year and a half before the Conference started.

He sighed before resting his arm on his knee and called Professor Oak to get his opinion.

_Bring…_

_Bring…_

_Ding!_

"Ah Ash! I was beginning to wonder when you were going to call!" Oak said as he smiled through the screen at Ash, "How's it going? I don't seem to know where you are at."

Ash laughed and smiled back, "It's going Professor. I'm in the Viridian Forest. I made it to Pewter last night and slept before entering the forest again to train for the Gym."

"That's good Ash, but I must say Gary has already gotten two badges and is heading for his third," Oak replied as he sat back in his office chair.

"Of course he is. He's always in a rush while I, myself, am not," Ash said as he looked up as he heard a soft bang and saw Pikachu get up from a small crater before going back up a tree to try it again.

"Are you in the middle of training?" Oak asked as he saw Ash look up.

"Yeah! Just seeing what the bang was," he said as he looked back down, "I have Pikachu working on Slam. I want him to learn it to we can work on a combo move."

"I see. Have you caught any other pokémon?"

"Mhm," Ash hummed, "A male Nidoran right after I left Pallet and then I ended up at this really big pond off one of the paths in Viridian Forest and caught a Horsea."

"A Horsea?!" Oak exclaimed as his eyes went wide, "the pond isn't connected to the ocean is it?"

Ash shook his head, "It's too in land for it to connect. Either two Kingdra made a nest there or someone moved Horsea from its natural habitat by the Seafoam Islands. Oh, also in one of the smaller lakes in Viridian Forest a few miles from Pewter is a really aggressive Gyarados. It got angered by a girl fishing and if Pikachu and I weren't there she would have been Gyarados food."

"Hmmm, that is troubling. I'll call someone from the League to take care of it. That, my dear Ash, is really good work for an ORFT," Oak said giving Ash a sly smile making the teen hold in a blush, "Now are these bandages I see in the corner of the screen?"

Ash sighed before explaining what happened in Viridian and how it was handled by himself before the police could even show up. It was him being at the right place and at the wrong time. "Well, all I can do is report it to the League. They've been trying to keep a record of Team Rocket and where they attack," Oak said, "I would say stay away from anything Team Rocket related, but I know you Ash. Just," he took a deep breath as he gave Ash a look, "Stay safe. If not for yourself then for your mother. You know she worries."

"I will. I don't want to go near them again," Ash said softly as he gave the older man a smile before changing the subject and saying, "I do have a few questions about my pokémon and their evolutions." Ash and Oak spent the next few moments speaking about Nidoran and the changes Ash observed before coming to the conclusion that Nidoran was in the very early stages in evolution while Ash hadn't seen any changes in Horsea and Pikachu didn't want to evolve.

"So Professor I can't decide my next move," he said as he looked up to watch his pokémon for a moment.

"What can't you decide," Oak asked before taking a sip of coffee.

"Well since I'm on this side of Kanto and it's so close to my location I want to go visit Rota because of those ruins you told me about," Ash said as he looked back at the screen, "But on the other hand I do only have a year and a half before the next Conference, which I do want to be a part of. I don't expect to win, but I do want to try my hand at it."

"Well, as you did say Ash, you do have a year and a half," Oak said as he put his mug down, "So how about after you journey to Rota I'll have Alakazam teleport you back to Pewter where you can continue on your journey to Celadon for the next badge."

Ash stunned at the offer nodded as he thanked the Professor, "Is there anything I need to know of when I reach Rota? Like is there any regulations or procedures I need to know about to visit the ruins?"

"You'll have to get permission from the ruler of Rota so you'll need to acquire entrance into Cameran Palace to speak with her," he said after a few moments of silence, "I believe her name is Queen Ilene."

"Okay, um doesn't sound too hard," Ash said as he nodded, "All I can do is try."

"That's the spirit," Oak said as he chuckled, "Now, I've taken enough of your time so I'll leave you to your training. Let me know of any further developments."

"I will Professor," Ash promised as he ended the call. He stood up and stretched before going to see his pokémons' progression. Pikachu was doing great in making small creators in the ground from his slams, but it wasn't perfect yet, which he didn't really want Pikachu to perfect in one go seeing as he was in no rush for Pikachu to learn the combo move. Horsea had the idea of trying to use Bubble and Water Gun together which kind of got the same effects as Bubble Beam so it was a great start for Horsea. And Nidoran was almost there in his Horn Attack, but his horn was beginning to bruise so he called off training for the day to get them all looked at by Nurse Joy.

Ash decided to walk around town as his pokémon were getting seen too when he ran across a child crying softly next to a fallen ice cream cone. She had coarse looking auburn hair in pigtails and dark narrow eyes. Her orange tank top was stained with the fallen ice cream as well as her cargo shorts and black tennis shoes. "Hello," he said softly as he crouched down beside her.

She looked over at him while sniffling, "Hello," she said watery as she wiped her cheeks.

"Where's your parents?" Ash asked as he pulled a few tissues out of his bag for her to use to clean up. He had watched her for a few moments, but no one approached her.

"Dunno. Big Brother looks after us," she said softly as she used the napkins to wipe her hands and face off, "Big meanie knocked into Suzie and made Suzie spill her ice cream."

"So your name is Suzie," Ash said softly, "Well, where does your Big Brother work or live? I bet he's looking for you."

"Suzie's Big Brother is the Gym Leader," she said as Ash took the used tissues to throw away in the trash cans nearby.

"Well Miss Suzie," Ash said as he held his hand out, "My name is Ash and why don't you lead me to the Gym so we can find your Big Brother." Suzie giggled softly and nodded as she took Ash's hand into her slightly sticky one. On the way to the Gym Ash asked Suzie why she was out by herself and that it was dangerous to be out with no one to look after her. She told him that he Big Brother wouldn't let her have ice cream before dinner, but she really wanted some so she took some money out of Mr. Binks, her piggy bank, and went to go get some. She told him about how hard it was to choose just one flavor and topping so she had a chocolate vanilla swirl on a cone that was topped with rainbow sprinkles and m&ms.

It was a few moments after her story ended when they reached the Gym. In the front of the gym was a tall man with eight other children of different ages. "Suzie!" one of the girls yelled out causing the others to look over then rush over to Suzie. Ash smiled as he watched them get reunited before the eldest of the bunch walked over to him.

"Thank you for finding her. Where was she," he asked as he kept an eye on the others. It was quite obvious that all of them were related with the same hair and squinty narrow eyes.

"Over by the ice cream shop," Ash replied before adding, "She told told me the whole story about how and why she was there as she led me here. You the Big Brother?"

"Yeah! Brock's the name," Brock said as he held out a hand to introduce himself.

"I'm Ash," he said shaking the hand, "Suzie said you were the Gym Leader."

"Sure am," he said with a smile, "Battle's gotta wait until tomorrow. I got take care of these guys."

Ash chuckled and sent him a little smile, "That's alright. I was gonna say for you to be prepared for a morning battle. Coming here bright and early."

Brock sent him a small chuckle and a smile, "Got places to be?"

"Yeah, I'm going to head on to Rota," Ash said as he walked with Brock and his siblings for a bit until they were almost in front of the Center, "Then to Celadon."

"Well," Brock said as he folded his arms over his chest as he smirked already getting pumped for the morning, "I'll be waiting then. Bright and early."


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

A/N: I got questioned about what kind of pokémon Ash will have. And well, I can't/don't want to tell you. I will tell you that shinies and rare pokémon will become slightly more common in this fanfic so be prepared. I do hope though that you like the choice I gave him in this chapter!

SMALL POLL AT THE BOTTOM!

* * *

Ash was up bright and early like he said he was going to be and at the Gym ready to battle. He prepped his team last night just to make sure they were all set for battling. He had to explain to Horsea that he wouldn't be able to battle on land until he evolved to a Kingdra, and he didn't want to tell his Horsea that he didn't know when that could happen. He wasn't sure how to get his hands on a Dragon Scale. He decided on using Nidoran and Pikachu in this fight as he wanted Nidoran to get more battle experience seeing as the poison type was getting close to evolving.

Now he was standing on the battling field with Brock as his siblings went to sit on the stands wanting to watch them battle. He took a deep breath as he took in the environment around him.

Dirt, rocks, and oh look more dirt.

He sighed as he waited for Forest, the next oldest sibling, to announce when to start. "Alright! This battle is between Pewter Gym Leader, Brock Harrison*, against challenger, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. This battle is a two on two. No substitutions, no recovery items, the battle ends when both pokémon on one side is knocked out. Gym Leader sends out first," Forest announced as he stood on the side lines with a blue flag and a red flag in his hands. Brock sent Ash a nod before sending out his first pokémon.

"Let's roll! Geodude!"

Ash hummed as he saw the pokémon he had just seen yesterday. He narrowed his eyes before sending out his Nidoran.

"To the battlefield, Nidoran!"

His poison type let out a growl as it left his pokéball. His poison barbs already out and dripping ready to poison his opponent. Nidoran hunkered down for the moment as he waited for his trainers' call.

"Geodude! Tackle!"

The Geodude let out a grunt as it moved, faster than expected for a rock type, towards Nidoran. Nidoran waited tense until the last moment before dodging the attack so the rock pokémon would end up gong around him. "Double Kick!" Ash called out as he crossed his arms over his chest. Nidoran ran quickly to where the Geodude was picking itself up from the failed Tackle and tried to deliver the Double Kick, but the Geodude was quick to dodge back towards his trainer.

Ash watched as his Nidoran chased the rock like pokémon across the field letting his pokémon use his best judgement on what to do. He hummed softly as his eyes narrowed. He couldn't think of a way to win this battle. He sighed softly to himself as he watched his Nidoran give back as much as he was given.

It wasn't until Geodude started slowing down that Ash knew he had a small window on chance to get the pokémon down once and for all. "Nidoran! Quick Kick the Geodude!" he called out suddenly as the rock like pokémon stuttered to keep its way out of Nidoran Peck. He heard his poison buddy let out a chirp before dashing in quickly in a Quick Attack before channeling that energy into his hind legs to let out two hard kicks causing the Geodude to fly back against the wall. Ash watched patiently as his Nidoran's ears twitched towards his downed opponent.

After a few moments Forrest called out, "Geodude is unable to continue! Nidoran wins!"

Ash let out a soft sigh of relief as his purple pokémon lumbered back to him and fell down at his feet showing his trainer that he too was tuckered out from the fight. Smiling he knelt and rubbed Nidoran behind a large ear. "You did really good Nidoran. That Geodude was a good match wasn't it?" he asked as he moved his pokémon from in front of him to beside him. Pikachu moved from his shoulder to the ground and made a small noise at Nidoran before getting a small grunt back.

Ash chuckled and quickly gave Nidoran a berry before focusing back on the field. "Will both trainers send out their next pokémon?" Forrest called out as he stepped back into his ref box with his arms down at his side.

"Go! Onix!" Ash heard Brock call out before a large rock snake appeared with a bellowing groan. Ash examined the beast before clacking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Pikachu perked up and gave him an affirmative before running out onto the field.

He heard Brock laugh before he said, "Are you sure you want to send an electric type? You do know that this is a rock type gym?"

He gave Brock a bored look before letting out a soft command to his electric mouse, "Use Quick Attack to dodge attacks but keep nailing the Onix with Iron Tail." Pikachu let out a soft hurring sound before he was gone in a flash and by the time Brock could see the small mouse he was already nailing his Onix in the head with an over powered Iron Tail causing the larger beast the topple over with a groan.

Ash watched as the Onix got back up and whipped his tail back and forth as it tried to hit his Pikachu. He kept silent as he saw Pikachu land a few Iron Tails along the rocky body. He saw Onix trying to use Rock Throw and Rock Tomb a few times before letting out a high pitched whistle. Pikachu backed off towards him and stood in front of him while facing the steadily growing angrier Onix. The larger pokémon thrashed his tail back and forth causing the arena to fill with dust making it harder to see.

"We need to end this quick Pikachu," Ash said as his yellow mouse caught his breath. He knew Pikachu wouldn't have much stamina left after using two consecutive attacks over and over like he was doing. "Confuse him. Get him to follow you and tangle him up. When you get the chance nail him with an Iron Tail on his head," he said softly so Brock couldn't hear him. Pikachu was gone with a flash, but it was much slower this time so Onix could see him as the cloud of dust settled down.

"Onix! Crunch!" Brock yelled once he saw that Pikachu was slowed down. The older male thought that this was his chance to nail the yellow mouse.

Ash watched with anticipation as Pikachu ran circles around the rock snake ducking and weaving around it leading the head up and over and through itself. It was only a few moments later that Brock realized what happened and sighed as he closed his eyes. Ash smirked as Pikachu let out a loud yell and slammed the Onix's head down to the ground with a powerful Iron Tail causing the giant rock snake to pass out.

"Onix is unable to continue!" Forrest announced as he raised a red flag in Ash's direction, "Pikachu is the winner! Challenger Ash Ketchum wins!"

Pikachu ran up to Ash to get pets from his trainer as well as praise from how well he had done which Ash readily gave the small pokémon. He recalled Nidoran and with Pikachu on his shoulder he met Brock in the middle of the field. "Good fight," Brock said as he held his hand out, "It's been a while since someone fought with an electric type and gave my Onix a run around."

Ash chuckled and shook Brock's hand, "It's been my pleasure. I was honestly surprised at how fast your Geodude was. You trained him very well," he said as he reached up and fixed his hat.

"Thanks. Anyway! Here's your badge," Brock said as Forrest approached them with a small open box with a metallic object nestled in the soft bedding. Ash picked it up and examined the silver badge before getting out his case to put it in. "Also!"

Ash looked up unexpecting the sound and saw Brock smiling at him with a pokéball in his hand, "I've been really busy and I haven't got the time to train this pokémon the way it needs. He was sent over to me by a good friend of mine, but as I said I don't have the time he needs. So, I am entrusting him to you."

Ash looked at the older male in shock as the pokéball was place in his hand. "W-Why? I mean thank you, but why just give someone you just met a pokémon?" He asked as his fingers closed around the ball.

"It's simple really," Brock said as he crossed his arms, "I see something in you that I haven't seen in a trainer in a long time. I see a passion in your eyes. A passion that tells me that the pokémon I gave you will flourish and thrive under your teachings. Just come by sometimes and show me how he's doing?"

Ash nodded and gave Brock a determined look. If this man that he just met believes he can do it. Then by Arceus he would. "What kind of pokémon is it?" He asked as he looked down at the red topped ball.

"Ah well that defeats the purpose of surprise when you see it for the first time," Brock said as he let out a small chuckle, "But I will tell you it is a ground and dark type and not from this region."

"Alright," Ash said as he gave him a sharp nod, "I'll just be going then. I want to at least reach Mt. Moon before it gets dark." Brock nodded back to him before he turned and walked out of the building. He clipped the pokéball to his holder on his waist as he walked in the direction of the Center to get Pikachu and Nidoran a look over before heading to the Mart to get supplies. Afterward he headed out of the town towards the looming mountain that was Mt. Moon.

* * *

It wasn't until he was a few hours away from Pewter that Ash stopped for lunch and for the fact that the burning question of what kind of pokémon Brock gave him was burning in his head. He set up his lunch station before moving a little way away from it to release the pokémon. He wasn't sure what kind of temperament it had, but released Nidoran to back up Pikachu in case it wasn't friendly. Ash took a deep breath and released the creature.

The pokémon sat slow to the ground like a crocodile that Ash saw once on tv. It had a long snout and tail that took up most of its body and its scales were a nice light brown color that was broken up with broad black stripes along its back. From where Ash knelt he could see lighter pinkish scales on its belly. He also noticed that the creature had a darker stripe across its eyes almost like binoculars.

Ash wordlessly scanned the pokémon as it opened his jaws and let out a loud hiss. He watched the creature carefully but it didn't move. He waited only a few moment before his Xtransceiver let out a small series of beeps before a males voice sounded out.

_Sandile Entry #551_

_The Desert Croc pokémon._

_It submerges itself in sand to regulate its body temperature. Its jaw can crush the strongest of objects and can usually be seen chewing on hard metals to shave down its teeth. Sandile also have a dark membrane on its eyes to help Sandile see in the harsh desert sun. Female Sandile tend to flock together as they sun bathe while Male Sandile are usually seen fighting other males. The Sandile with the strongest bite becomes the Alpha of the territory. Most Sandile are more active at night time as it it during this time that they hunt small prey that come up to feed._

_This Sandile is male and has the ability Moxie. It's current moves are, Bite, Leer, Sand Tomb, Assurance, and has an egg move Fire Fang._

_Note to trainer: As this Sandile is Male and has the ability Moxie the trainer should take all precautions in handling and training the Sandile._

Ash sighed as he looked over all the information. "Just great. Not only is he male, but he has Moxie," he said as he put the Xtransceiver down. He looked over at the lazy croc like creature as he bit his lip. The Sandile was his now. All he can do is try his best at handling this situation.

"Well Sandile," Ash said gaining the crocs' attention, "I'm your new trainer. I hope to one day be the strongest! Care to join me? I promise to make you the strongest you can be."

The question was answered with a loud hiss as the croc got up from his spot and moved towards Ash. The teen held still before realizing that the pokémon wasn't going to attack him. "Alright! Let's get started by seeing what your moves can do," Ash said as he led the reptilian over to the other side of the area he was in. He didn't want the place he was settling for the time being destroyed.

"Alright! Sandile let's start with Bite," he said as he gestured to a thick low hanging branch. The Sandile hissed softly before moving quicker than Ash expected and the next thing Ash knew the branch was snapped off the tree and Sandile was on top of it with a wide grin on his face. "Wow," Ash murmured as he saw the almost clean cut, "Alright we'll use this branch for your other moves. Next use Assurance."

It only took a few minutes for Ash and Sandile to run through the moves he knew and a short while after that he came up with a game plan. Since the reptilian knew Bite already he wanted to add an element to it like the Fire Fang he already knows, but that only left him with Thunder Fang or Ice Fang. He thought it over and decided on doing Ice Fang since one, he was going to get a fire type sooner or later and he knows Fire Fang already, secondly Ice types were kind of rare in Kanto, and lastly he had Pikachu for electric type moves.

After all that and lunch Ash wanted to head back out since he wanted to at least get to Mt. Moon before it got too dark. He kept his pokémon out since they wanted to walk with him as they made their way onto a dirt path leading up to the mountain. From what he could tell from his map it was a straight shot to the mountain on this path, but there was a few paths branching off of it that led to dead ends and forests. He contemplated exploring one of the paths, but decided against it when he saw the time and how low the sun was getting.

The sun was just leaving the sky when he stopped at the area he wanted to stay the night at. There was a small pond in the area as well as enough coverage from trees and bushes to cover the area from the path so he didn't have to worry about many people seeing him as he slept. After a quick dinner he brought back out Nidorans' file to look over the poison type.

He hummed as he looked that slightly larger Nidoran over and helped him by plucking a few stuck scales revealing darker scales. He measured the egg teeth and his horn before coming to a conclusion, "Well Nidoran, if you don't evolve before coming out of Mt Moon then I'll eat my left shoe. The extra training we did on the road to here has paid off. Your egg teeth has shrunk drastically since yesterday and I can see a few stretched scales around your horn. If you haven't evolved after Mt Moon then it will definitely be on the trip to Rota," he said as the dark eyes peered up at him in hopes that the results were positive.

Nidorans' ears perked up as he let out a cooing noise and stomped his feet a few times. Sandile hissed as he swiped out with his tail annoyed with the ruckus Nidoran was causing. "Hey none of that Sandile," Ash said as he frowned at the reptilian it was as if he were a bit grumpy at his teammates impending evolution, "You would be acting the same way if you were close to evolving." He turned from Sandile once he was calmed down and peered at the pond in the dying light. He could see small air bubbles coming up from the middle of the water and assumed that was where Horsea was sleeping.

He sighed softly and poked at the fire a bit before settling down on his sleeping bag. Nidoran and Pikachu were already curled up together by the fire and Sandile was still up peering around the campsite in the darkness. "Sandile. Come here," Ash said softly as he patted the sleeping bag beside him. He waited only a few moments as the reptile pokémon drug itself across the area. Ash smiled down at him before pulling out his Xtransceiver. He scrolled down to Sandiles' profile and its evolutions and showed the croc. "One day you'll be able to evolve. We just got to get you there bud. We met each other just a few hours ago. Nidoran has been working on this pretty hard over the last week and when I met him he was already pretty close himself to evolving," Ash said softly as he scrolled through the information on evolution for the croc, "I think you aren't that far from evolving, but there are a few things I want to work with you on before your evolution."

He saw that Sandile was enraptured with what he was saying, "I want to get your jaw a bit stronger as well as your legs, stamina, and agility. We will also need to work on your ability to make sure you won't loose yourself and tear into everything, friend or foe. It'll make your evolution much easier to manage after doing these few things since you won't be on four feet any longer. After you evolve we'll need to work on upper body strength as well as you getting use to moving with two legs not four. All I am asking is for your patience and trust. We'll get started right away. We will get you there, but it'll take some blood, sweat, and tears before you can evolve. Can you do this with me? Can you trust me enough to get you there?"

Ash waited in silence for a few moments before he got a small nod and hiss from Sandile. "Thank you," he said as he placed his hand on Sandiles' head and rubbed at the top between his eyes. He made sure to avoid the membrane since he didn't want to accidentally mess it up and injure his pokémon.

They stayed there in silence until the fire was burned down to embers. It was only then that Ash felt it was safe enough to sleep since he didn't have to worry about burning the forest around him down. He curled down into his sleeping bag to make himself comfortable, and just as he was about to fall asleep he felt Sandile work himself under Ash's arm. It wasn't too long after Sandile relaxed that Ash fell asleep.

* * *

Do you want Ash's pokémon to have nicknames?

Yes?

No?

One vote per person please. You can send the vote either review or PM!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

NarupokeeAurorafan, thank you for your review! But I had not played Sword or Shield before writing the chapter, in fact I just recently got the games. I got the egg move idea from various fanfictions that I had previously read. But, the ones most influencing this fic are, "Traveler" by The Straight Elf, "Challenger" by darkfire1220, and "Legend" by The BlackStaff and NightMarE. I highly recommend them if you want really good pokémon fanfictions to read. The updates are slow, but worth it.

If you would like to read any of them they are easily found on my favorites or on their pages.

Enjoy!

**A/N: I would really like your guys' opinions on what type of pokémon you would like to see Ash have and why he should have them! I kind of got an idea of what pokémon he should have next, but still I want to see what you guys have to say! And you can include any legendaries you might want him to have/interact with or if you want any of the pokémon to be shiny! You can leave your suggestions in a review!**

* * *

Ash huffed as he tried getting through the tunnels of Mount Moon, but he was met with little luck. Some tunnels were straight forward, some were blocked by fallen rocks, while others led to several different paths that were either dead ends or wound itself to a spot he had already been at. During his time in the tunnels he couldn't help but get the sense that something was wrong.

There were no pokémon.

He hadn't encountered any during his time going through the tunnels. No Geodude. No Paras. No Zubat. It was a bit eerie to him. As far as he knew the mountain should have been bustling with pokémon. After taking a few deep breaths he continued his way through the tunnels with Sandile at his feet and Pikachu on his shoulder. He only had those two out since Nidoran was tired from early morning training. It wasn't until he hit the three hour mark into his journey through the tunnels that he heard the first sounds of life with in the dark depths.

"Hey, this way! Executive Petrel wants us to make sure there aren't any more trainers around here."

Ash froze at the sound of the females voice and the sound of footsteps getting closer to his location. He felt Sandile press up against his leg just as Pikachu's fur began to stand up in a threatening manner. He reached up and gave Pikachu a small scratch behind his ear before crouching down to make himself as small as possible. He was lucky that there was a rock tall enough to hide himself behind and he silently returned his Sandile and hoped it wasn't a mistake that he did that. A moment later he held his breath as he hunkered down trying to make himself as small as possible until the person, well people from the sound of it, passed by him.

Shakily he pulled set up his Xtransceiver and started to video tape the path in front of him just as the people started walking past his hiding spot. The woman that spoke had bright pink hair under a dark hair and the two males following her had brown under their hats. They wore similar outfits of dark pants/skirt with boots that either reached their knees or over their ankle and their shirts were long sleeves with black gloves reaching their elbows. Printed on their shirts was a large red R.

Thankfully Ash wasn't spotted in his hiding spot and once the trio were past him he carefully made his way down the path where the trio had come from. If they were looking for more trainers they may have already taken the others. They may be the ones behind the silence in the cave. Ash carefully and silently made his way down the path, still taping on his pokédex, until he was greeted with bright lights and the sounds of pokémon crying out.

Slowly entering the opening to the wide cavern in the cave he was greeted to pokémon and humans trapped in cages and a large tent towards the back of the cavern. He spotted several different native pokémon in the cages as well as others that Ash assumed were the trainers pokémon, but they were knocked out or asleep since none of them moved or made a sound. In three of the cages were trainers that Ash didn't recognize. Two female and one male. One of the females were red headed with sea foam green eyes, small in stature and dressed in shorts and a tank top, and the other female was blond with blue eyes taller than the other female and wearing dark pants and a white top. The male was tall and muscular wearing a sleeveless black top and what looked like sweat pants. What caught Ash's eyes was the fact his hair was purple and his eyes were dark in color.

The dark haired teen slowly scanned his watch across the scene before letting his arm fall with it still recording it in case something happened. Not seeing anyone in the uniform like the trio earlier Ash slowly moved further into the cavern towards the trio of trainers to see if he couldn't get them free. Ash wordlessly brought his finger up to his lips in a hushing gesture as the red head spotted him and he saw her nod slightly before she pointed at the door of the cell. Looking over Ash smirked as he saw an electronic lock on the cage.

Casting one more glance around to make sure no one was around he held Pikachu, who had thankfully stayed silent during his sneaking around, up to the electronic lock, "Pikachu, shock it," he whispered softly. Pikachu nodded and moved to place his cheek against the cold lock before surging electricity as silently as he could making it short circuit and open the door. Ash and Pikachu did this three more times until all the trainers were let out. "This way," Ash said as he saw another tunnel leading out of the cavern a different way he had come in.

Silently the four of them made their way to the tunnel and went down in it to get away from anyone that could see them. "I'm Ash. What's going on?" Ash asked once they stopped. He kept his voice to a whisper not knowing how far his voice would carry in the tunnels.

"The name's Misty," the red head said as she looked at him, "I was exploring the waters here in the cavern when I was ambushed by these people. They call themselves Team Rocket and they stole my pokémon. I need to get them back!"

"Angelique," the blond said as she introduced herself next, "I was looking for my way out when I was ambushed. They took my pokémon too."

The purple haired teen glowered at the three of them, "Paul. Same," he said short and simple as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Ash nodded slowly before grabbing a pokéball, "I can get your pokémon back. Do you know what they pull the balls in?"

"Brown bag in the tent, but they released some of them into the cages and knocked them out," Paul said as he looked at the smaller teen curiously.

The dark haired teen nodded once again, "I can get the balls, but you'll have to recall them. When you do it'll probably alert everyone." Ash saw the three of them nod before releasing Sandile. The croc let out a hiss when he saw the other three trainers by his trainer and whipped his tail against the rock wall as he slowly got up on all fours ready to charge at them to get them away from his trainer. "Sandile," Ash said sternly causing the reptile to look at him, "Enough. You got work to do."

Paul watched as the Sandile calm down with a few words and approach the dark haired teen. The purple haired teen had to admit that not even he had to balls to command a Sandile like that knowing how they, and their evolutions, could be in battle.

"Sandile I need you to dig under the tent and look for a brown bag. It'll have pokéballs in it. I need you to bring the bag, but Sandile you need to be careful and silent. Don't get caught," Ash said as he put emphasis on the fact his Sandile needed to be careful, silent, and not to get caught. He saw his Sandile nod before burrowing down into the dirt.

Ash and the trio stayed silent and on alert as they waited on the reptile to return.

* * *

It was effortless for Sandile to dig through the dirt. It was almost like being home again. He was being careful like his trainer wanted him to as he sensed what was above him. He could feel the vibrations of people walking in the space and above him and he determined that he was under the tent. Slowly he began his ascent to the surface and only let his nose and eyes break the surface.

In the room were several tables and a lot of people surrounding the tables. It looked at though they were hammering away at something as bits of dirt landed on the ground after someone chipped away at it. Casting his gaze around he looked for the item he was sent for and found it near the entrance of the tent. Letting out a silent hiss he dipped back into the ground and scurried his way to the entrance of the tent.

Once more surfacing he noticed he was right beside the bag so he carefully lifted his head out of his tunnel and grasped the bag before dragging it into his tunnel like he had many times before with his prey. He covered his entrance up so the people in the tent didn't notice anything was wrong before making his way back to his trainer with his catch in his jaw.

* * *

"So how did you get a Sandile? They aren't native here in Kanto," Misty asked once the silence got to her.

Ash looked over at her as he began to pet Pikachu, who was still on high alert, under his chin. "I got him after defeating Brock in Pewter. Brock gave him to me claiming that he was too busy to train Sandile like he needed to be. Of course I accepted him. I mean I didn't know it was a Sandile since Brock handed me a ball and didn't tell me what was in it, but nonetheless Sandile is part of my family now," Ash explained.

"And what happened to Pikachu if you don't mind me asking?" the red head asked a little hesitantly as she looked at the scarred Pikachu.

Ash bit his lip gently as he looked down at his starter. Pikachu let out a small chittering sound before patting his trainer's hand with his tiny paw. "Pikachu wasn't mine to begin with. He belonged to someone else before Professor Oak found him chewing on his computer wire for nutrition. When he did get him, Pikachu was in a bad shape, like really bad shape. He was abandoned by his trainer after getting attacked so badly. When Professor Oak found him Pikachu was almost dead from starvation and an infection so bad Professor Oak had to use Ditto Cells to heal him. I'm glad though that Pikachu was strong enough to pull through," Ash said as he held Pikachu close causing the mouse to let out a squeak, "I couldn't have asked for a better friend and starter than him."

Before anyone else had a chance to speak a brown bag was thrown out of the hole before Sandile emerged. When the bag landed the opening unraveled revealing pokéballs which some were shrunken while a few of them were not. Ash quickly scanned the balls with his Xtransceiver to determine what pokéball had what in it and who it was registered to. Soon enough the three trainers had their pokéballs back along with a couple of their pokémon.

"Good job," Ash said softly to Sandile as he gave the croc a few scratches under his jaw causing the reptile to let out a lazy slow hiss. He stood back up and looked at the others as they put their balls on their belts and bags. "Ready to get the rest of your pokémon? It'll most likely result in chaos," Ash asked as he tilted his head slightly to get his bangs out of his eyes.

"Yeah," Misty said as she nodded sharply. She was more than ready to get her pokémon back.

"Ready."

"Let's go."

Ash took a deep breath and led the way back to the cavern so the others could retrieve their pokémon. He kept his eyes on the tent as one by one the others recalled their buddies and thankfully it was quieter than Ash expected. He noticed Misty and Angelique coming his way and gave them nods as they passed him, but he wanted to stay for Paul.

"You guys get out of here. I'll wait for Paul," Ash whispered before they could completely pass him, "When you get out go straight to the police. We'll be fine so don't worry about us."

"Are you sure?" Angelique asked as she stared into his eyes. Her own blue ones conveyed worry for them. Ash gave her a smile and a nod before turning back to see if he could find Paul.

"Go," he said softly and a moment later he heard two sets of footsteps leaving the area. Letting out a shaky breath Ash moved forward to weave between the cages to find the missing purple haired teen.

Ash quickly ducked down when the trio of goons he saw earlier passed by him quickly and he watched as they went into the tent. "Paul?" he called out in a loud whisper, "We really need to get out of here!"

"Okay, let's go. I just found my Grotle," Paul said as he made his way over to where Ash was. Just before the purple haired teen got to his side he was pushed away and pinned down.

"Ooof," he grunted as he turned his head to see what was on him, but all he saw was a tall male in white and black staring down at him. His purple hair was shaped in a short mohawk along with his goatee. His piercing black eyes glared down at him with hints of insanity as his lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Well, well, well," the man said with a tinge of a growl to his words, "Look at what the Meowth brought in."

Ash tried to take a deep breath and looked to his right to find Paul in the same position he was in. "What do you want?" Ash asked as the pressure on his body got heavier.

"Hmm," the man hummed, "Well, I was told by my boss to get rid of anyone trying to sabotage this operation. So that's what I'll do." The man whistled and jutted his head to the side before turning around to walk away as the grunts rushed the two of them as the pokémon pinning them down was called off.

The grunts hoisted them up and marched them down into the tunnels away from the workers. Ash assumed it was because the guy from before didn't want whatever that was about to happen to them to be heard by others. Ash kept struggling to get out of their hold and ended up on the ground as one of the grunts kicked the back of his knee then kicked him down to the ground.

Ash let out a cry as his arm was wrenched back with a hard pop after a grunt jerked him off the ground. His belly churned slightly from the pain, but he was quickly brought to reality when he heard a very soft clicking sound. Looking up Ash's eyes widened as he saw a gun pointed at his head.

Gasping for breath Ash struggled in the hold of the grunts trying to get away from the gun not even caring that his arm was most likely dislocated and that he was already in pain. His head wrenched to the side as one of the grunts holding him slapped him hard enough to see stars making him stop his struggling as he tried to gather his bearings again. Looking back up he blearily looked at the gun hoping that at least Paul would get out of this.

He closed his eyes as he heard the click of the safety turning off. A few moments passed before he heard the loud cracking sound of the gun sounding off and a sharp pain to his side before one of the grunts holding him let go with a loud yelp.

Opening his eyes he looked down to where the pain radiated on his body and saw that part of his shirt was short at his side where the bullet from the gun grazed his side. Casting a glance behind him he saw one of the grunts that was holding him grabbing at his leg where the bullet hit him. His heart pounded as he turned and saw that Paul had escaped from where he was being held and tackled the grunt with the gun.

Quickly releasing his pokémon he got them to help Paul in securing the grunts that held them down and grabbed the gun that they grunt held. The gun shook in his hand as he slowly made his way to where Paul was. "Let's get out of here before the others come back," Ash said as he took deep breaths to keep himself from getting sick, "The girls must have already got into contact with the police. They'll be here soon."

He saw Paul nod before they returned their pokémon except for two to keep a look out as Paul got on one side of Ash to help him walk. Ash tried very hard to keep his whimpers of pain from escaping, but it was very hard to especially when he accidentally stumbled over a rock.

"We're almost there," Paul said as he saw Ash get paler after his latest stumble. In his opinion the smaller teen didn't look so good.

"Okay," Ash whispered as he heard Pikachu let out a small chitter and spark from his cheeks as they got closer to the entrance. Paul's Sneasel let out a deep growl for such a little cat as it let it's claws out. It took a few moments, but Ash was able to hear the sounds of footsteps coming from in front of them.

"That must be the girls," Paul said before hushing his Sneasel and hoisting Ash up higher so the darker haired teen wasn't sagging.

"Maybe," Ash said softly as he clicked his tongue softly to get Pikachu to chill. Ash and Paul kept going but were very cautious since they were still a bit close to the people that hurt them. It took them a few minutes, but they managed to determine that the steps they heard were indeed the girls and it seems like the did bring along cops.

After a few hushed explanations and Ash sending what his watch was able to record he, along with the girls and Paul were escorted outside of the mountain and was sent to Cerulean City since it was the nearest city with a hospital suited for humans. Along the way Ash tried not to doze off, but his eyes betrayed him since the last thing he remembered was his eyes closing and him falling asleep against something hard, but warm.

When Ash woke up next it was to the sound of soft beeping and soft sounds of pages in a book being flipped through. He could feel something small and warm between his arm and his hip as well as two other small masses on his legs. Opening his eyes he was greeted to brightness that made him groan, but instead of closing his eyes he merely blinked and looked around. Beside him was Pikachu laying between his arm and hip while Nidoran and Sandile were laying on his legs. Beside his bed was a large tank that held his Horsea and in the chair by his bed was a familiar purple haired teen.

"Paul?" he whispered softly confused as to why he was there.

Pikachu perked up when he heard Ash speak and began to let out a series of squeaks and growls as if he were berating the teen for the stunts he pulled. The squeaking and growling woke up the others in the room causing Sandile and Nidoran to join in while Horsea looked at them confused and for Paul to look at them in amusement.

"I guess he told you," Paul said once the yellow mouse was done. He put away the book he was reading through into his bag before giving the teen on the bed his full attention.

Ash chuckled and nodded before speaking, "I suppose. So Paul, not that I'm not happy you are here, but for the fact we just met each other and have no connection to one another, what are you still here for?"

Ash studied the taller teen for the few silent moments that passed between them. Paul was muscular, as he had taken his jacket off Ash was able to see more of him, and had his arms crossed making his biceps bulge a bit. His face was stoic while his eyes did betray some emotion.

"Well you did just save us and our pokémon. The girls had already left the city, but they did leave something for you and your pokémon," Paul said as he gestured to the side table, "I owe you too."

Ash shook his head and looked at him in confusion as he said, "You don't owe me anything, Paul. I just did something that anyone else would have done."

Paul's jaw tightened before relaxing. The bigger teen let out a sigh before admitting, "But someone already tried helping. They got the same thing that happened to you happen to them, but they didn't fight back like you did. They just accepted their fate."

Ash looked at Paul with wide eyes, "Oh," was all that fell from his lips. The room fell into silence as he gave his pokémon scratches to looks of praise for doing a good job. Just as Ash was about to open his mouth and speak to Paul the door to his room opened and a doctor walked in. She was average in height and had brown hair tied up in a braided bun and had forest green eyes.

"Good to see you awake," she said as she placed her clipboard on the bed before turning to Paul, "If you'll give us a moment?"

Paul let out a sigh and nodded before taking his leave, but he did leave his things making Ash assume that he would be right back in. "Now, I am Dr. Nakayami," she said turning back to her patient, "I'm in charge of your care while you are here."

"Nice to meet you," Ash said as he placed his hands on his lap while Pikachu curled back up in a ball but kept his eyes on her. Sandile let out a small hiss while Nidoran grunted in greeting and Horsea blew a few bubbles.

"Now as I am sure you are aware you were shot at by a gun, but that thankfully only grazed you," she said as she pulled her clipboard closer to her, "I had to clean it out and stitch you up with six sutures. Your shoulder was also dislocated and twisted which is now back in place and bandaged, but with a topical potion cream all you should feel is a bit of soreness from that area. I would like you to stay at least for tonight before leaving."

Ash nodded along with the explanation she was giving as his good hand ran through Pikachu's static filled fur. Ash asked question after question for the care of his wounds and was told to rest his arm as well as he could and that he needed to keep his arm in a sling for the next couple of weeks. For his bullet graze he needed to keep it clean and dry and he should keep it bandaged for at least another week. The stitches would dissolve on its own in two weeks time and she told him that he would most likely have a scar.

Dr. Nakayami stayed in the room for a few more minutes after the questions to note down his vitals and told him that if he wanted any food that he could call for one of the nurses. A moment after the doctor left Paul came back in the room and sat back down in the chair he had vacated minutes before.

"So what are you doing when you leave?" Paul asked as he leaned back in his chair.

Ash looked over at him and replied, "I got something to do for Professor Oak in Rota, but after that I'll be going after the rest of the gym badges."

"Rota?"

"A kingdom in the mountains behind Pewter," Ash answered as he pulled up the regional map on his watch, "It's about right here." He pointed at a circle between the large mountains. "It's about a week trip from Pewter," he added before putting his watch down.

He looked over at Paul and saw a contemplative look on his face. After a moment of silence he was surprised about the words that came out of the purple haired teens' mouth.

"How do you feel about a traveling companion?"


	6. Chapter 6

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

**Tigergirl1723**, I didn't have Brock join Ash simply because I didn't want him to. I love Brock too, but I don't think I could do him justice in writing. He may or may not come up again in later chapters, but I guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out. I do love Riolu and all, but I am unsure of giving one to Ash. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.

**Roxel**, thank you for your suggestions and I love them all! I am unsure if I will pick any pokémon from Alola for Ash in this fanfiction unless it is just a mention of other trainers having it. Your suggestion for Shinx is being taken into consideration since I love that line of evolution and as for Shiny Sylveon, as much as I like Sylveon I just do not think its the pokémon for Ash.

**NarupokeeAurorafan**, you gave me a looot of selections to choose from, but like Roxels' suggestions I may or may not add pokémon from the Galar region even though you did give me the good reason about the Psychic/Fairy dual type which the two types are the hardest to think of a pokémon to fill. I do have an idea for his Dragon type, well another Dragon type, but thanks for your suggestions! As for the water types you suggested I have already given Ash a Horsea he's just not out and about because Ash hasn't been near water for a while. Mewtwo and Darkrai are my favorite Legendaries as well, I also like the Mythical Marshadow.

**A/N: Yes this chapter is a bit shorter than the last, bit I promise that the next chapter will be longer once again!**

Enjoy! And please don't forget to leave a review! They're my muse to keep writing!

* * *

Ash looked at the purple haired teen in confusion after comprehending the words that came out of his mouth. Traveling companion? Him?

"Um I actually have something to do before I can continue on my journey," Ash said softly as he looked down at his pokémon, his Pikachu was wide awake, but Nidoran and Sandile were both still fast asleep, "Maybe after I'm finished doing what I need to do."

Paul looked at Ash with a raised brow in question, but when he didn't receive an answer as to what the dark haired teen needed to do he just nodded and went to leave the room. Ash just sat there and watched the larger teen reach for the door knob. "Wait!" Ash said before Paul could walk out of the room.

"What?" Paul asked turning back towards Ash.

Ash bit his number and cleared his throat before asking, "Can I at least have your number? You know for when I'm done?" The silence in the room that followed the question was thick enough that it could have been cut with a knife, but instead it was cut by one simple word.

"Okay."

Ash gave Paul a small smile before giving him his Xtransceiver so he could add the number. He thanked the larger teen before he left and held his device in clenched hands. Letting out a deep breath he placed it to the side on a table before slowly getting up. His side thankfully wasn't giving him much pain as he shuffled his way to the bathroom to empty himself.

After he was back on his bed he fell asleep under the comfortable weights of his pokémon.

* * *

The journey back to Pewter was uneventful, but it was something new since he couldn't remember the trip to Cerulean in the first place. He was told before he left the city by his doctor that there was a shortcut between Cerulean and Pewter if he didn't want to go through the mountain again, but he wasn't too fazed by what had happened. He still had nightmares, don't get him wrong, he was still terrified that a loaded gun had been pulled on him.

He had quickly gotten to the mountain and onto the route he needed to get on to get to Rota. He did double check his bag before he left the hospital and to his relief the package was still in his bag and not tampered with. He did call Oak and told him what had happened and the older man told him that he would let the League know and then asked him not to cross paths with the group again. They were dangerous.

He with Oak hadn't told him that. It only made his nightmares worse.

He was lost in thought as he walked with Nidoran and Sandile beside him and Pikachu asleep in his jackets hood so he didn't notice that someone was running his direction. Sandile let out a hiss as the figure got closer.

"Hey!"

Jumping Ash turned around and saw a girl about a few years older than his own age running up to him. He took the time she took to get to him to study her. She had dark brown curly hair and green eyes while she wore worn jeans and a long sleeve pink shirt. Beside her running with her was a tiny bear like pokémon called Teddiursa.

"Yeah?" Ash asked once she was a few feet away.

"Be-Been trying to get your attention for a few minutes," she said slightly panting from her run, "Wanna battle? You're the first person I've seen on the way to Cerulean."

Ash looked at her confused before pulling up his map. Nope. Still on the way to Rota. "I think you're confused," Ash said as he faced her fully, "This is the way to a kingdom called Rota," he pointed where they were on the map before moving it towards Cerulean, "Cerulean is that way. Completely opposite of this direction."

She looked at him shocked before grabbing at his wrist not seeing that it was his bag arm to get a better look at the watch. Ash grunted and hissed as he was jerked causing Sandile to get defensive and Pikachu to get flung about in the hood. The croc swung his tail around hard, but not hard enough to break her leg, just hard enough to leave a large red mark on her leg. "Ack!" she exclaimed before hobbling backwards. She reached down to rub her leg and saw the large red mark.

Her Teddiursa let out a small growl and was blocked from hitting the angry croc by Nidoran whose poison barbs were fully extended and dripping. "Knock it off!" Ash said before placing his arm back in its sling. Sandile moved back to he as pressed against his trainers' leg as Nidoran let his barbs fall back against his scales.

"I am so sorry," the blond said once all the pokémon were calmed down, "I was just so shocked that I was heading in the wrong direction! I didn't notice your arm was in a sling!"

Ash sighed and rubbed his shoulder slightly since that was where the pain was most focused at. "Just pay attention to the person your jerking around next time," he said before looking down at his still agitated pokémon. Both of their eyes were focused on Teddiursa and he didn't like how angry the emotions were in their eyes. "I um don't think a battle would be wise right now," he said looking back up at her.

"Uh yeah," she said pulling Teddiursa into her arms, "I'm Cindy by the way. Thanks, for you know, not letting your pokémon maim us."

Ash nodded slowly still a little creeped out by her sudden appearance, "You're welcome. Anyway, keep going that way and you'll get to Mt. Moon. Take a left and you'll be heading to Cerulean," he explained and intentionally not gave his name to her as he took small steps back to get away from her.

"Thanks!" She piped up then turned and rushed away in the direction Ash pointed out. He waited there for a moment before turning and heading the direction he was before.

There was just something about her that he felt was wrong, and it kind of scared him.

* * *

Settling down for the night he was still unsettled by the appearance of Cindy. He made sure to go off the beaten path to settle and didn't use any kind of light. He instead chose to use a thick branch of a tree to sleep on for the night and had Pikachu on alert as he and the others got rest.

He was sure he was only asleep for a few minutes before he felt Pikachus' tiny paws poking his cheek. Only just remembering that he was on a branch he was still as he opened his eyes. Seeing Pikachu just enough to see that his electric mouse was looking down he turned his own gaze to the woodland floor.

Standing a few feet from the tree he had hidden in was Cindy with her back away from him.

She was still dressed in what she had on earlier, but instead of Teddiursa walking with her was the evolution on the bear, Ursaring. He knew just how vicious those bears could be when someone or something entered its territory. Staying silent he watched Cindy as her and her Ursaring walk through the trees and pulled out his arm slightly from its sling to video tape her.

"Where the hell is that boy!? I took a five minute break and lost a fucking child," she whispered/yelled at her Ursaring who only grunted, "The boss isn't going to be happy. Fuck!"

He kept recording as she moved to sit on a stump and pulled out a phone to, what Ash could only assume she would do, call her boss. The ringing was loud in the silence of the woods before a male voice rang out.

"What?"

"I lost him."

"You WHAT?!"

Ash saw Cindy cringe before saying once again, "I lost the kid."

"You fucking bitch! I need that package he has! You better have found him before he gets to Rota or all is lost and we're ruined!"

"Fuck," Cindy said as her boss hung up leaving the woods once against in silence. Ash watched her get up and motion to her Ursaring before leaving the area Ash was hiding in.

The teen stayed silent as he waited. He could hear Cindys' shuffling fading away with her cursing before he was just left with his own breathing and heartbeat pounding in his ears. Ash stayed quiet before turning the video off and saved the recording. Gathering Pikachu in his arms he let out a loud sigh and softly thanked Pikachu for waking him up and staying quiet.

Ash didn't feel comfortable leaving the safety of his tree now that he knew she was walking around and he was being searched for. For a few moments he thought about what he would do. There was no chance he was falling asleep again. With a small brief thought that fluttered through his head he quietly pulled his ear buds out of his pocket and plugged them into his watch. He turned the brightness down so he wouldn't be spotted in the tree and left one ear bud out of his ear so he could still hear around him.

He quickly dialed the Professors number and hoped that the old man was still awake. He kept his gaze away from the watch and kept them on the forest floor and saw only a few nocturnal hunters searching for prey.

"Ash?"

He jumped slightly from the sudden sound. Turning to look at his watch he saw the drowsy form of the Professor. "Professor," Ash whispered just loud enough for the Professor to hear him, "I need some help. I'm being followed," he said as watched as every ounce of sleepiness vanished from the Professor.

"What's going on?"

Casting another look down and not seeing anything he answered, "Several hours ago on the path to Rota a girl and her Teddiursa approached me. Called herself Cindy. She claimed to be heading to Cerulean which I thought was weird, but I pointed out the right direction she should have been going. After she left the feeling like I was being watched didn't disappear and so when I set up camp for the night I hid myself. It was a good thing too. Pikachu woke me up about forty-five minutes ago and Cindy was back, but she had an Ursaring with her. I started to record her when she claimed she 'lost the fucking child' before sitting on a stump and called someone. Whoever it was wasn't happy. He said he needed the 'package he has' and to 'get him before he gets to Rota or we're all ruined.' She's been gone for about fifteen minutes. I haven't moved."

Ash kept his eyes on either the forest floor under him or Oak who was processing what he told him. They sat in silence and Ash kept an ear out before Oak finally spoke. "I'm sorry Ash," Oak said as he looked at the young teen, "I didn't think that they would actually go after you. I thought I was secretive enough asking you to take it and that they wouldn't catch wind that you had the package. I'll call the Rangers around the area and see if they can't help you get to Rota. Just stay hidden and when you are in Rota I'll explain who is after that package. I'm going to hang up now, but I'll call back when I have someone to help you."

Ash nodded and licked his dry lips as they ended the call. He stuffed the ear buds down his shirt, but left them connected to the watch. It wouldn't do well if his watch rang and someone unfriendly was close. With a deep breath Ash settled down to wait for the phone call.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

* * *

Ash was aroused from his sleep by a vibration against his wrist and a soft paw tapping his cheek. Not really remembering what happened he let out a soft groan and moved his head, but before he could fall back to sleep memories of what happened earlier filtered through the sleepy haze. Jumping wide awake he scrambled to answer his watch and placed an earbud in his ear.

"Professor," Ash murmured softly once he saw the old man on the screen. He glanced over for a moment and saw that it was quite early in the morning and that he only managed to sleep for an hour as he waited for this phone call.

"Everything good so far?" Oak asked as he took in how tired the teen was.

Ash nodded and ran his hand over his face, "Haven't heard anything since then. Pikachu has been on watch."

"I had gotten through to the Rangers near you and they are sending a team of three to get out to Rota safely," Oak said as softly as he could, "There will be two males and one female, their names are Kellyn, Jack, and Solana. I'll send you pictures of them so you know what they look like. They should be there within the next hour."

"Okay," Ash said as he gave the professor a smile, "Thank you."

"No need for thanks my dear boy," Oak said with a small smile of his own, "You shouldn't to go through this at all."

"Its fine," the teen replied shaking his head, "I've not gotten hurt, have I? Just a bit scared." He did take a look at the photo once it was sent through and memorized the people in the photo before closing the messaging app out to give Oak his full attention.

Oak let out a soft sigh, but let it go. He knew just how stubborn the boy could get. Oak stayed on the phone with him for a bit longer asking him how his pokémon were doing. Ash told him his Nidoran was getting extremely close to evolving as the poison type had just lost the last bit of length on his egg tooth making them just as short as his other teeth, and that Sandile is getting more competitive because Nidoran is close to evolving. Pikachu was still addictive to ketchup and gets moody when he can't get any with his meals ever since Ash decided to use ketchup as a treat for when Pikachu did really well during training. Horsea was getting faster in the water and his aim is getting much better with his Water Gun the little water type was just frustrated that he isn't able to fight out of water.

The Professor hummed softly as he listened to the teen and gave him suggestions to help him. He suggested that when Nidoran evolved to work on his endurance seeing as when he get bigger in his last evolution he wouldn't be able to move his heavy body so fast. With Sandile Oak had to admit he didn't know a lot about his evolution line, but he would asked Professor Juniper, the head researcher for the Unova region, what she thought of Sandile.

For Pikachu he suggested on working on his agility and his strength seeing as he was a small pokémon most would assume his main focal point of attack would be quick small hits. No one suspect a small pokémon like Pikachu to hit hard.

"I do seem to remember that I have a few shed scales from my Dragonite," Oak said a few moment after they fell into comfortable silence. Ash perked up and looked at the older man with wide eyes. "I could part with one," Oak said sending Ash a sly smile, "but I won't just hand it over. You need to prove it to me that you and Horsea deserve it."

"We will!" Ash said as a look of determination filled his eyes. Pikachu took that time to sit up from where he had laid down in Ashs' lap and looked down. It took a few moments before the sounds of footsteps reached Ashs' ears and when he looked down he saw three people standing under his tree looking around.

One of the males with light blond hair wore dark pants and shirt with the jacket and shoes he wore were red. The other two, a dark haired male and blue haired female, wore similar clothes. Beside them were a Mightyena, Arcanine, and a Pidgey that landed on the females' shoulder. "The Rangers are here," Ash said to professor Oak as he looked back at the older man on his watch, "I'll make sure to message you when we reach Rota."

Oak nodded and took a deep breath, "I'll be eagerly waiting for that message," he said as relief filled him a small bit, "Be safe. Be careful."

"I will," Ash replied before ending the call. Taking a deep breath he looked down once more before calling out, "Hello!"

Ash kept himself from jumping as six sets of eyes looked up at him. He waved down at the trio and their pokémon as one of the humans in the group laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Mr. Ketchum?" the female called up and smiled when she got a nod in response, "Need help down?"

"No thanks!" he called down before he began his descent making sure to be quick, but careful. His shoulder was really starting to start up in pain as he reached the last bit of the tree. While climbing the tree was beneficial last night his arm and side really regretted it once he had to climb down. "Hi," he said once again once he was on the forest floor.

"Hi!" the dark haired male Ranger that laughed said as he waved, "I'm Kellyn."

"Solana," the female Ranger said.

"Jack," the blond said as he put a hand on Mightyena, "Oak called and asked us to escort you to the opening gate to Rota. It's a bit far from here so we should probably get a move on."

Ash nodded as Pikachu moved from his good shoulder to his hood and nestled down for a nap seeing as his trainer had others to look out for him. The group began to make their way through the woods to get back on the path that would take them to Rota. Ash was a bit shocked to see that the Rangers had a Jeep that they would drive to the gates cutting the usual week long trip to a long car ride instead.

Jack took the wheel as Solana sat in the passenger seat and Kellyn got in the back with him. Just as he was going to ask what they were going to do with their pokémon that were still standing outside of the car they were recalled into their capture styluses.

They got a few minutes down the road before Solana began asking Ash a few questions. "So Mr. Ketchum," she began turning in her seat a bit to look at the teen, "What kind of pokémon do you have with you?"

Ash smiled as he spoke of his pokémon, "I have Pikachu here of course," he said pointing at the sleeping mouse in his lap. He had moved the tired creature to his lap when they got in the car. "I also have a male Nidoran, a Horsea, and a Sandile," Ash said as he ran his hand over static filled fur not caring about the small shocks that ran through his hand.

"A Sandile?!" Kellyn asked as he turned his attention to Ash, "How did you get one of them? They aren't even native to this region!"

Ash chuckled, "I got him as a gift from the Pewter Gym Leader after defeating him. Brock said he didn't have the time to take care of Sandile like he deserves so he gave him to me," he replied.

"What kind of Sandile is it? Male or female?" Jack asked but he kept his eyes on the road.

"Male with Moxie," Ash said slightly confused as to why he was asking.

"Moxie?!" Kellyn exclaimed as he stared at the teen with wide blue eyes, "That's like really dangerous especially in males!" Ash saw Solana nodding in agreement as well as saw Jacks' eyes looking at him in the review mirror.

"Sandile is actually really sweet," Ash explained, "Really competitive and protective of those he sees as family, but sweet. If he doesn't know you he'll take you as a threat, but he mellows out if he sees you're not a threat to me or the rest of his pack."

"I want to see him!" Kellyn stated as he brought down his fist onto his leg.

"Can I release him in here?" Ash asked looked between the three of them. Once he saw that he got an affirmative he put Pikachu in his hood so he could release Sandile on his lap. "I would try and make yourself as far away as you can," Ash said as he grabbed Sandiles' ball from his waist and pointed it down to his lap before pressing the button to release his croc.

Sandile let out a loud hiss once he saw the unknown male in front of him, but didn't charge at him seeing as he was sitting in his trainers' lap. He did swing his tail and bashed it against the car door as he opened his mouth to let the unknown male see how big his fangs were. He would defend his trainer to his last breath if need be.

"Settle down," Ash said as he reached to Sandiles' lower jaw and gave him scratches where he knew the croc liked it best. The croc let out another softer hiss as he settled down in his lap making Ash smile. He looked over at Kellyn as saw his eyes had gone wider.

"How?"

"Told you he was sweet," Ash said as he smiled.

"Usually if someone let their hands near a Sandiles' mouth it would get ripped off," Jack said as he saw Ashs' hand near the sharp teeth, "It has to do with their poor vision. They mostly rely on the vibrations they feel through the ground. They thrive in deserts. They're vision gets better in each evolution as the membrane around their eyes gets thinner since the eyes develop an eyelid that acts like the membrane. It helps them survive out of the deserts and during battles."

Ash looked down at Sandile, now almost boneless in his lap, the membrane around his eyes seemed really dark as the sun beat down on them, "Is it hurting him then? Being out in the sun like this without any sand?" he asked. He felt Sandile move and open in mouth with a loud long hiss.

"Nah," Jack said once the croc was done hissing, "What he did there was release heat that built inside him. Sandile can adapt once they are out of the desert. He's not hurting or anything and I'm sure he would tell you if he was."

The teen nodded as he ran his hand over the ridged scales along his back. Sandile was close to needing to shed a few of his scales. "Do you know when Sandile are close to evolving?" Ash asked curiously since Jack did seem to know about the evolution line.

"Hmm," the blond hummed, "I believe my sister said she noticed her Sandile was close to evolution when she shot up in weight and length. She said Sandile lost a few of the blunt teeth in the back and they grew back bigger and sharper. The scales started shedding like crazy leaving darker scales in place, but they were barely noticeable against the other scales since its evolution was close in color to Sandile. Her Sandile got really aggressive as well. She said buying a few toys with metal rods in them were a blessing."

"Thank you," Ash said as he took out his notebook and made a few notes on Sandiles' pages. So far he hadn't seen anything like what Jack described, but now he knew what to look for.

The trip in the car seemed to take longer than Ash thought it would, but he was thankful that he at least didn't have to trek in the forest with the potential danger of 'Cindy' in it. He was sad nonetheless. He would have really liked to explore the wilderness around Rota. It was the more unexplored bits of land in Kanto seeing as someone would need permission from the Queen of Rota to explore it.

They didn't stop once during the trip having decided to eat in the car when they got hungry and they managed to get to the Kingdom a few hours before sunset. Ash wasn't surprised at that since Jack seemed to never slow the car down bellow seventy. Once the car stopped Ash got out and bade the Ranger his thanks and goodbyes before approaching the closed gates.

"Halt!"

Ash turned and saw two people approaching him. They were dressed in clunky looking armor that look uncomfortable.

One was much shorter than the other. "What brings an outsider to Rota?" the taller person asked. Their voice held a husky female tone to it, but Ash didn't want to assume they were female under the armor.

"I'm Ash Ketchum," he said introducing himself as he pulled his bag down. Professor Oak had given him a letter to get through the gate and a small package before leaving Pallet Town that the older man wanted delivered seeing as he was going to Rota. "Professor Oak from Pallet Town asked me to drop off a package for Queen Ilene and get permission to explore your ruins." he explained as he handed the entry letter to the taller of the two.

"Any means of identification?" he was asked and he handed over his dex with his information pulled up. Once confirmed he was indeed Ash Ketchum he was let into the Kingdom. He was amazed at the look of the Kingdom. It was like he had travel through time.

The streets were cobblestone and houses littered the streets with kids running around playing with women cooking and men sitting and drinking. He noticed the women were all in dresses including the little girls while the boys and men were dressed in pants and shirts. He knew his mother wouldn't be able to stand being in dresses everyday especially on weeding day.

As he was escorted through the Kingdom he saw that most of the people that they walked by were staring at him, but he couldn't put the emotion to words. He was thankful that at least the travel to the castle was a lot shorter than the trip to the Kingdom. He was in need to relieve himself.

The castle itself was made of white stone with red roofing. There were a few towers with windows only at the top and long large staircases that took people higher into the castle. It took only moments for them to be let into the castle and Ash was quickly taken to the throne room were he was told he was going to get an audience with Queen Ilene.

Going in Ash took in the Queen who sat on her throne. She wore a purple dress that flowed to the ground like a waterfall and her blond curly hair fell down her back. Adorned on her head was a crown bejeweled in blue gems that matched her blue eyes. On her lap sat a Mime. Jr. Bowing he waited until he was told to stand straight.

"My knight tells me you bring word from Professor Oak?" Ilene spoke out disrupting the silence that fell when he walked in.

Ash took a deep breath before replying and he only hoped it was polite enough for the Queen, "Yes your Majesty, I have a package that I was directed to give to you and only you."

"Very well," she said as one of her knights approached him, "My knight here will take it and will give it to me."

"Yes your Majesty," Ash said as he slipped off his bag and dug for the item before handing it to the knight. He watched carefully as the knight did indeed give the package to the Queen without tampering it.

The Queen glanced at it for a moment before looking down at Ash, "I do believe there was something else my knight told me," she said as she set the package aside for the moment, "something about you wanting to explore out ruins?"

Ash resisted the temptation to lick his dry lips as he gave the Queen a small nod, "Yes your Highness," he said, "I am an On the Field Researcher and Trainer for Professor Oak. He had spoken of the ruins from when he were here last and he believed that I would very much like to go through them and see them for myself. I would like to ask for you permission for at least a day to explore the ruins."

Silence once again filled the room once Ash was done speaking. He kept his gaze steady on the Queen not once moving them in case it was seen as him being suspicions about wanting to visit the ruins. Tension filled the room as the Queen thought over her decision.

"Very well," Ilene said breaking the silence once more, "but you will be accompanied by two of my knights. I will give you one full day to explore the ruins, but after that you may not enter them again unless given permission once again."

Ash bowed as relief and excitement filled him, "Thank you your Majesty," he said once he straightened his back.

"You will be given a room here with a knight posted outside your room in case you need anything. Knight Handal," she gestured to one of the knights along the wall, "show him to a guest room and tell one of the maids to fetch him dinner. Captain Herris will get him in the morning."

"Yes, my Queen," the knight said as he bowed and approached Ash, "This way."

Ash nodded and followed the knight as he took a relieved breath. "First time in front of royalty?" the knight asked as they walked down the hall.

"Yes. It was really nerve racking," Ash said softly as it was getting late and he didn't know if there were anyone in the rooms they walked by.

"The first time is always the most nerve racking," the knight agreed as they stopped in front of a door that looked like every other door, "This is your room. I'll be out here in case you need anything. In the morning a maid will bring food here for you to eat before the Captain arrives to get you. Do I need to wake you up?"

Ash shook his head as he answered, "I'm a bit of an early riser."

The knight nodded before opening the door, "Someone will be here soon with food for you. Do you need any for any pokémon you carry?"

"No thanks. I have food in my pack for them," Ash said as he entered the room, "Thank you for showing me here."

"The pleasure is mine," the knight said before closing the door leaving Ash in silence once again. Not really taking in the room as he looked for a door, in which there were two, and picking one he was relieved to see that at least they had modern bathrooms. He quickly did his business and got ready for bed. He was drained from last night and he was ready to pass out any moment.

He did release his pokémon except Horsea since there weren't any tanks and he swore he would spend a bit of time in Cerulean for Horsea. He explained to his pokémon where they were at and what was happening before a knock sounded at his door. Quickly eating his food, he had also given his pokémon their food, and giving the tray back to the maid who patiently waited outside the door he flopped down onto the soft bed. He didn't even get under the blanket before he passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

A/N: Another chapter?! So soon!? Gah! I've started re-reading 'Challenger' by darkfire1220 and I just got the strongest urge to write this. So here ya go!

NarupokeeAurorafan, thank you! I hope you're being safe as well during these trying times (as I do the rest of my readers, I do hope you are all well and safe!). I certainly am!

himeko63, I thank you as well for you review! I'm ecstatic that this story has become a personal favorite of yours! You don't have to wait long for the next chapter! It's here!

Tigergirl1723, I'm making you happy in this chapter.

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

* * *

Ash was already up and ready with his pokémon by the time the Captain of the guard knocked on his door. Opening it he saw a rather stern looking man with two others in what they would deem civilian clothes around here. One man, a red haired blue eyed man, wore a pair of dark cloth like pants and a white shirt while the other man, he had green eyes and black hair, wore light brown cloth pants and a grey shirt. Strapped on each of their hips were belts with pokéballs and swords attached to them.

"Mr. Ketchum," the stern looking man said and stepped aside so Ash could leave his room, "I'm Captain Herris. These two are Knights Arturo and Nicolet they will be accompanying you to the Aura Ruins. Arturo go to the kitchen before you leave and gather some food for you three. Do try to be back by nightfall."

Ash watched as Herris left the three of them standing in the hallway. The red haired man, Arturo, started walking the other way, "This way to the kitchens Mr. Ketchum," he said as Nicolet followed Ash from behind after he began to Arturo.

"Please, just Ash," Ash said as he looked at the paintings on the walls through the hall. There weren't many, but there was enough for him to get distracted. Pikachu, who had jumped on his shoulder before they left the room, chirped softly and nuzzled his cheek as if he had felt the nervousness his trainer felt.

"Then just call us Arturo and Nicolet," Nicolet said moving to walk beside the dark haired teen, "We aren't much older than you are. No need to call us Knight."

Ash nodded as he was led deeper into the castle to where he assumed the kitchen was. The further they went down the less decorated the castle was, but Ash could tell it was still kept in a nicely neat order and well cleaned. The hall that they had turned into only had one opening and there wasn't even a door to it, but Ash could see, hear, and smell the evidence of the kitchen.

He could smell freshly baked bread and spices as the chefs cooked the morning meals for the residents of the castle. His mouth watered as they entered the warm room thanks to the ovens. "We'll have breakfast before we leave to given them time to procure a bad of food," Arturo said as he led Ash to a square table near the corner of the room. It had four chairs to it and Ash decided to pick the chair closest to the wall since he didn't want to have his back to the rest of the room.

"What do you want to eat? Does your Pikachu want anything?" Nicolet asked Ash as the yellow mouse in question jumped off his shoulder and onto the table.

"Um what ever is available is fine," Ash hummed and looked down at Pikachu and saw pleading eyes and he knew that Pikachu didn't want pokéfood, "Eggs and some bacon for him if that's okay. Thank you." Ash sighed softly. His Pikachu was a glutton. He had already fed his pokémon in his room before he was retrieved and escorted to the kitchen.

He saw Nicolet let out a small laugh before the knight turned and asked one of the chefs for food. He spotted Arturo grabbing glasses of what looked to be water for them before heading back to the table. "Did Nicolet already ask you for what you wanted?" Arturo asked as he set the glasses down.

Ash nodded as Arturo sat down to the right of him and leaned back in his chair. "So, Ash what made you want to visit the Aura Ruins?" Arturo asked.

The teen looked over at the red head and licked his lips before speaking, "Do you know Professor Oak?" He continued after getting a nod, "I've been learning from him for a while now and he use to tell me of the ruins but he never told me the name. I guess the old age is getting to him. Anyway, he told me of the carvings on the walls and the history of the ruins and to be honest it intrigued me. I had made myself a goal for when I started my journey to visit the ruins and it so happened that Professor Oak needed something brought to Rota. Have you been to the ruins?"

Arturo shook his head, "No, the Knights use to go there for sparring lessons before Queen decreed the place to be closed off. It's a historical landmark for Rota. The Aura Guardians, when there were Aura Guardians alive, used to use the place as their headquarters, but after the war a thousand years ago it wiped out the Guardians and no one has been able to wield Aura since so the place turned back to nature."

"Aura?" Ash asked as Nicolet joined the table with their food. Pikachu cooed as he dug in not caring if there was ketchup or not.

"You don't know about Aura?" Nicolet asked as Arturo sipped his water before he began eating.

Ash shook his head as he took the bread on his plate and broke tiny pieces off of it for Pikachu.

"It's a spiritual energy," Nicolet said after Ash began eating, "it's the essence of all living beings. People who have the ability were able to use it both mentally and physically. My great Nana swore her grandfather had Aura."

Ash chewed his food before swallowing so he could ask another question, "How do you know if you have the ability?"

Arturo answered this time, "You're born with it. Back in the olden times before and during the war people were brought the the ruins to see if they had Aura. There was a test or something. If you had it you stayed. If you didn't have it you could go home."

Ash nodded and dropped the topic as he dug into his food. They finished quickly and after being given the bag of food and drink they left through the back door of the kitchen. Pikachu had jumped into his backpack to sleep off the food he had consumed. The servants entrance and exit he was told. By the time they left the kitchen the sun had already rose high into the sky, but he was told the ruins weren't that far from the castle.

The walk to the ruins were the calmest Ash had ever experience since there wasn't a hide or hair of pokémon around at all. When Ash asked why there wasn't any pokémon around he was told that it had been that way since the Guardians were wiped out. It was as if the life had been sucked out of the forest around the ruins.

The further they went into the ruins the stronger Ash felt as though he wasn't in control of his body. He could still feel his feet moving as they walked back bits of stone that would have tripped him up. It was when they walked into the entrance way of the ruins that Ash completely lost all physical feelings in his body.

There were broken stones and moss covered entrances leading deeper into the ruins from where they stopped by the center where laid a carving of a pokémon surrounded by carvings of other pokémon and people. Nature really had taken this place back. All Ash could feel at that moment was a deep seeded sadness that tugged his very core the further he walked into the broken ruins. He didn't even notice when Arturo and Nicolet stopped just before the center of the ruins as he had just kept walking letting the tugging feeling guide him.

"Ash?" Arturo called out to the teen

Ash couldn't hear him it was as if his head had been dunked into water with a roaring waterfall clashing against the surface. Arturo and Nicolet shared a look before Arturo walked over to where Ash stopped at the center carving and turned the teen around. "Nicolet!" he called out as he stared into Ashs' eyes. They weren't red tinted amber whiskey eyes that he was born with. They had turned into a bright blue in color that rivaled the sky on a beautiful day.

Ash turned away from the two Knights and stepped on the very center of the carving.

A moment passed.

Then two.

All of a sudden the carving glowed the same blue that Ashs' eyes turned and a deep groaning sound echoed through the ruins before the center of the carving slowly descended into dark depths taking Ash with it. Arturo and Nicolet looked at each other as a stone circle covered the hole where Ash had disappeared.

"Fuck," Nicolet cursed.

"Fuck," Arturo agreed.

* * *

Ash was taken deeper into the ruins further than anyone had been in over a thousand years. Down here the ruins were as good as new if not a bit dusty. Time and nature hadn't taken this place yet. As Ash stepped into a room a blue glow lit the room as if a light had been turned on letting him see into the room perfectly.

As he walked further leaving room after room in search of something Pikachu had decided to peek out of the backpack. Seeing his trainer like this scared him. He wasn't responding to anything, but Pikachu would keep an ear and eye out for any danger that would harm his trainer.

Not noticing the weight on his shoulder Ash turned into a room suddenly making Pikachu clutch at his shirt to keep on his shoulder. Once again the blue glow lit up the room and it showed an office of a sort. A dusty desk, completely clear except for dust, a bookcase filled with books, and a painting of a woman was the only things in the room.

Walking over to the book Ash reached up and pulled a yellowed book down but when he did that a soft click sounded through the silent room. Looking over Pikachu saw the painting of the woman, a brunet with green eyes, open revealing a staircase leaving down. Going down the stairs Ash felt the tugging getting worse.

_Here._

The female voice had Ash stopping at the bottom of the stairs while all of a sudden feeling like he had his body back under control. Shaking his head and wince at the throb it gave back before peering around. The stone room the stairs led to was larger than the office at the top of the stairs.

_Come here._

Looking around once again hearing a female voice he saw a see through woman standing in front of a dirty glass case with a large painting behind it. She was shorter than him by a few inches and wore a dark cloak that hid most of her body. The hood was down on the cloak exposing her face. She had large and kind brown doe like eyes and shoulder cropped brown hair. She gave Ash a smile and reached out to him in a beckoning gesture.

Ash took a deep breath before walking over to her. "Was that you?" he asked referring to the voice he heard. He saw her nod before she turned away from him to look at the dirty glass case.

_My name is Marie Grace Redfern. I was an Aura guardian one thousand and six years ago. I died when I was seventeen during the war._

Ash gulped softly as he looked at her. She was a ghost? It did make sense since he could see through her.

_I was also the last one alive in these halls. The others died before me thanks to the Corrupted._

"Corrupted?" Ash asked. Marie nodded giving him a glance.

_Someone who was once an Aura Guardian. Someone who had vowed to protected everything. Someone who had gone against their Oaths. They are the Corrupted. They perverted the use of Aura to reach their own gains._

Ash shivered as he felt something cold brush by him. Looking around he didn't see anything, but he turned to Marie who had an amused look on her face. "Why am I here? Why did you bring me down here?" he asked as Pikachu leaned closer to him.

_You're the first person who had come here in over a thousand years who had Aura. Now that you are here I may complete my goal and rest._

"Goal?" he asked hesitantly.

Marie nodded and sent him a smile. _I was commanded to stay here until someone with Aura enters the ruins. Without you Aura would fade away only to be told as stories in history books. Aura is needed Ash. Its the balance of life. Without Aura the Corrupted will take over and the world as we know it ends._

_Aura needs you Ash Ketchum._

_Will you accept it as it has accepted you?_

Marie stared into his eyes and Ash felt as if he were being judged by something that wasn't Marie. He took a deep breath and thought over his decision. If he really was the last one to wield Aura could he shoulder the responsibility of keeping the world in check as Marie said. Or would he fail and the world falls into the hands of the Corrupted.

Taking another deep breath Ash cleared his throat and said, "I accept." He saw Marie smile before he was engulfed in blue. Pikachu quickly leaped off his trainer and landed on the floor. He watched as Ash was swallowed up by the blue glow he had seen around the place before it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. "Woah," Ash mumbled as he let out a slow breath.

_Congratulations Aura Trainee Ash Ketchum. _Marie said catching Ashs' attention. _Everything you need is over there on the book shelf along with gloves and boots in the chest by it. Collect them then come back. There is one more thing to do before I go to rest._

Ash nodded as he slowly made his way to the book shelf. The books on it were dusty, but in good shape. There were three books in total 'The History of Aura', 'A Complete Guide to Aura', and the last book was larger than the other two 'The Journal of Aura Masters'. He quickly put them in his back making sure to not fold the covers or pages. Walking over to the chest he opened it and retrieved the gloves and boots in it and placed them in his bag as well before heading back to Marie.

_Before I depart Ash in this case behind me lays the only egg my beloved Lucario laid. Will you take it and care for it? That is my only wish._

"A-Are you sure?" Ash asked as his eyes widened. Marie nodded as she gave Ash a small smile.

_Once I leave this place the ruins will collapse. I do not wish for the egg and the youngling inside to die. I do not wish for my Lucarios' line to die. Will you take it? Care for it?_

"Yes," Ash said as he gave her a sharp nod.

_Thank you Ash. Please take the egg. Once you have you will be teleported outside of the ruins where you left your companions. You'll have a few moments to moved before the ruins collapse._

"I understand," Ash replied before moving to the case. Looking over it he saw a hand like print and placed his hand on it making it glow blue. A hiss and a pop sound made his jump slightly before the glass sunk into the stone column the egg rested on. The egg itself was blue in the majority of its coloring with black bands running around it. Picking it up he felt a pulse of what he knew was Aura before it settled and Ash could feel the warmth of life on the egg.

He turned to Marie, who had a soft sad smile on her lips, "I still have a lot of questions, but I think I can find the answers myself," he said as he heard the first bit of cracking of the ruins falling around them, "Goodbye Marie. Rest well."

_Thank you Ash. Good luck._

Before he was teleported out he saw Marie fade away leaving this world once and for all.

Stumbling on a rock after arriving outside he looked up and saw Arturo and Nicolet and yelled, "RUN!" He turned away from the ruins and ran towards the tree line and from the sounds of footfalls behind him Arturo and Nicolet were following him. He didn't stop until he was past the tree line and he turned around just in time to see the beautiful broken ruins fall into itself leaving a sunken hole behind.

Panting he turned to look at Arturo and Nicolet with a sheepish smile on his face. "Y-You have a lot of explaining to do," Arturo said panting as he stared at the sheepish looking teen.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Tigergirl1723, I haven't decided on if he would have double of one type or not, but that is kind of impossible when the pokémon I want to give him are double types. So, I guess he will have doubles of one type if that counts. I also do adore the Riolu line. I wish Ash kept the Riolu during the Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu episodes.

Sakihinata, I honestly laughed really loud and scared my dog when I read your review. That is basically what happened isn't it?!

Crystal Blue Butterfly, Holy Mew! Thank you for your review!

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

* * *

"I let you into my kingdom and into the sacred ruins to only be thanked for the opportunity by you destroying it," Ash stared up at the weirdly calm Queen of Rota as she spoke to him. Her stare was unnerving and her Mime Jr. had a small frown on its face. She continued with the calm tone still in her voice, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Ash, still clutching the egg he had received from Marie, slowly began explaining what happened after stepping into the ruins. How it was still in really good condition. The rooms he went in and the staircase that he had to go down. He spoke of the underground facility and the ghost of Marie which had some of the Knights in attendance to shudder with the thought of the ghost. He explained what she told him and the task that was left to him and the Corrupted before she finally got the rest she deserved. Ash explained that it was Marie that kept the ruins in the condition they were in and that if she wasn't there the ruins would have collapsed hundreds of years ago.

"I honestly had no idea I had Aura, your Majesty, before I went into the ruins" Ash said sincerely as he gave her a bow, "I am terribly sorry that the ruins were destroyed."

Silence filled the room after Ash spoke and it stayed there for a while as the Queen contemplated the teen before her. It was true that no one had been born with Aura for a long time and if Ash was telling the truth then he would have a harsh life ahead of him. She would try her best to help the teen, really still a child in the eyes of the world.

"Very well," Ilene said as she took a deep breath, "If what you are saying is true then I have no other choice. Ash Ketchum, you are hereby accepted into the Kingdom of Rota as an honorary citizen. You may enter the Kingdom whenever you wish and you will be given a room in the palace for whenever you need it. I give you this opportunity and if you betray the Kingdom you will be forever banished."

Ash gulped softly as he listened to the Queen before giving her a nod and a swift bow, "I thank you, your Majesty," he said before he was dismissed from the throne room. His heart was pounding in his chest as he walked out of the room. He was so sure the Queen would be very angry that their Ruins were destroyed, but he was very surprised at the outcome. In the end he was just thankful that he wasn't imprisoned for the rest of his life.

After leaving the castle and saying goodbye to the Knights that had accompanied him to the ruins he decided he was done with Rota for the moment. Vaguely remembering the way back to the gates to leave he managed to leave the kingdom and made his way back into the wilderness. Pikachu, glad to be back outside of the castle since he didn't like being indoors, was busy chattering in his ear as his static filled fur soaked up the sun.

As he walked he called the professor to let him know what happened in Rota and needless to say the old man was shocked about what happened and was more than interested by the thousand year old egg in his possession. "Well, let me get my Alakazam," Oak said as he leaned back in his chair, "I can take a good look at that egg to make sure its well and healthy before Alakazam takes you to Pewter for the rest of your journey. Your mother would appreciate the visit as well I'm sure."

Ash stopped and let out a sigh. A trip home this soon after leaving. "Alright," Ash said as he nodded and stood still so Oaks' Alakazam could pinpoint his location. He was lucky enough for Alakazam to know him so well that he could find him however far apart they were. It took only a few moments before the Alakazam appeared before him without any sort of noise.

His fur shone a bright yellow and brown showing that the Alakazam took great pride in his appearance. The two spoons he held were twinkling merrily in the sunlight as his whiskers twitched. Moving one spoon to his other hand Alakazam held his hand out to the teen and before Ash could do anything else after grabbing the furry hand they were gone from the forest.

Peering around Ash saw that he was in the basement of the laboratory and he sighed. Oaks' Alakazam liked to play pranks so him being teleported to the basement wasn't anything new. Ash carefully maneuvered around the dusty boxes and piles of books until he was at the staircase that led up into the actual lab.

After making his way up to the lab, and dropping Pikachu off in the electric type feeding room, he went to find the professor. He first looked in the mans' office, then the pastures, then the break room, before finding the man in the nursery where all of the eggs and freshly hatched babies were kept. "Professor," Ash greeted as he walked further into the room.

"Ash!" Oak greeted with a smile, "Alakazam whisked you to the basement again?"

Ash sighed and nodded, "It's fine though. Nothing that hasn't happened before."

Oak let out a laugh before asking Ash to place his egg on the pedestal. Ash knew it was used to check the well being of an egg so without saying anything he carefully placed the egg on the pillowed surface of the pedestal. "The temperature is perfect. The activity within the egg is fantastic. Development is good," Oak muttered as he wrote everything down for Ash, "I would estimate that this egg will hatch within the next two weeks. The baby is fully formed and its heartbeat is well within the normal range for an egg that's close to hatching."

"Really?!" Ash asked excitedly as he gave the professor a wide smile.

"Really," Oak said giving the teen his own smile, "Now that we know your egg is well and good can I look at you other pokémon? To check their progress?"

Ash nodded and gathered the egg as well as the paper Oak had written the vitals on before following the old man out to the pastures. He asked if they could go to an area with a pond so he could release Horsea and was quickly shown to one. Ash put his bag down and laid the egg beside it before moving to the pond with one of his pokéballs. Letting out his Horsea into the pond he made a point to greet him and give him a scratch on his scales that he liked the most. Standing back up he moved a small bit away from the pond and let out Nidoran and Sandile.

Nidoran was quick to greet him while Sandile hissed at Oak. The croc definitely didn't like those close to his trainer if he didn't know them. Oak made no move to get close to them as he observed how Ash quickly calmed the croc down and explained where they were and what they were doing. "Where is Pikachu?" Oak asked now realizing that he had not seen the yellow mouse anywhere since Ash had gotten there.

"I took him to the feeding station inside. When he's done I'm sure he'll make his way out here," Ash said as he ran his hand over Sandiles' warm scales and scratched Nidoran behind a large ear.

Oak nodded, "May I approach?" he asked as he glanced down at the Sandile. The croc was still staring at him and while his body was calm the crocs' eyes were filled with promise of harm if he dared harmed his trainer.

"Yeah," Ash said as he moved to stand, "He'll behave or he won't get any meat tonight." Ash looked down at the croc with a certain look. Sandile swished his tail and let out a hiss before relaxing fully onto the warm ground. Sandile loved the meat treats his trainer gave him occasionally.

"I'll be quick," Oak promised as he started looking over the Nidoran. The purpleish pink poison type made sure to show the old man where his poison spines were and how potent the poison was as the spines secreted a purple goo that dripped onto the ground and ate away at what it touched. He stood still as he unknown man looked him over and measured him like his trainer has done before. He fought the urge to bite down when his teeth were looked over and shook when his sensitive ears were fiddled with. He watched as the old man took samples of his poison before telling him he was done.

Nidoran quickly moved away and sat down near his trainer. Looking down Ash saw that Nidoran was looking up at him and he gave the poison type a smile and another scratch before pulling out a few treats for him for being good during the examination.

"Your Nidoran is coming along very nicely Ash," Oak said as he wrote a few things down on a clipboard he had brought out, "His egg teeth are completely gone and the patches of darker scales are getting bigger. His neck is showing some strain though and I would guess it is because his horn had grown quite large. If he doesn't evolve before you reach Cerulean I will eat my left shoe."

Ash let out a chuckle as he imagined Oak sitting down with a plate of steaming shoe. "That's great news. You hear that Nidoran?" Ash asked as he looked down to the poison type. Nidoran was wiggling in excitement and stomped his feet a few times. "He's excited," Ash said before looking over at Sandile, "Your turn."

The croc hissed as he slowly got up and moved over to them. He didn't like being touched by those he didn't know, but he was quick and didn't hurt his teammate so he guessed it was fine if the old man looked him over. He needed to make sure he was in top condition to protect his trainer.

The old man looked over his scales, even the underside which he hated showing the old man his belly, his claws, his teeth which he was very proud of, and his eyes. He heard his trainer telling the old man the things the Ranger, he believed they were called, said about his kind. He had to dig his claws into the ground as the old man checked his tail and fought the urge to swing his tail into the old man. He was relieved once the old man moved away from him.

"Well," Oak started, "I do not know much of his kind, but I did manage to get a hold of Professor Juniper. She told me she didn't know very much either, but she did know more than I did. She was quite concerned when she heard the Sandile in question was a male with Moxie and told me that they needed to be handled with utmost care."

Ash nodded and knelt to calm Sandile further. "I know that at least, but Sandile here is really mellow. At least to me he is," Ash said as he scratched under Sandiles' jaw.

Oak hummed softly as he observed the teen and the croc before saying, "She did tell me what she knew about their impending evolution. The scales stay the same in color, but they tend to get dryer and flake off closer they get to evolution. Sandile tend to eat more and bulk up in preparation and their tempers skyrocket."

Ash quickly pulled out his notebook and began writing as the Professor spoke. The information was well needed and wanted.

"The most outstanding thing about their evolution is the fact they go from down on all fours to walking on two legs. Juniper told me that it would help if Sandile worked on making his legs stronger before evolution since it would help as he got use to holding up his entire weight on two legs after evolving," Oak added, "That's all she had to tell me though. She hasn't been able to study their kind as much as she would want to."

Ash finished writing what Professor Oak said before putting his notebook back in his bag, "Any information is better than none," he said as he stood up, "I can now keep an eye out for his evolution and be prepared for it more now than a few moments ago. Thank you."

Oak chuckled and nodded, "You're welcome my boy," he said as he moved on to Horsea. The little sea horse was much more calmer than his teammates. He took great joy in the fact that his beautiful scales were getting scratched as the old man looked him over. His tail was checked, his six spine fins were checked, his back fin was looked over as well and his eyes were looked over.

"Your Horsea is in prime health," Oak said as he looked the smallest of Ashs' pokémon over, "There's not really anything I could say about Horsea here though for training I would work on tail power and accuracy before he evolves as well as his agility."

"Got it," Ash replied as he sent Horsea a smile. The small sea horse let out a trill and wiggled back and forth. His health made his trainer happy and with his trainer happy it made him happy.

"Now, how about we gather your Pikachu and you can go greet your mother before Alakazam sends you to Pewter like promised?" Oak suggested as he smiled. The bond between trainer and pokémon never failed to bring a smile to his lips. Ash agreed and returned his pokémon with a promise to release them later once they were back in Pewter.

After gathering Pikachu and getting his check up done, Ash made his way to the diner his mother owned. It was a small building, but it was perfect for the size of Pallet. Approaching the small log building he was greeted to the scents of freshly baked bread and pumpkin soup as well as pastries his mother makes. Going in he saw his mother laying out samples on the counter.

Once she saw him her face lit up in happiness and soon enough he was engulfed in a hug.

Laughing he pulled away to breath and was ushered to a seat and before he knew it food was being laid out on the table for him to eat. Pikachu was given a special plate that had very good nutritional pokéfood on it which the mouse was happy to eat. At his mothers' prompting he released his other pokémon and they were given food like Pikachus' as well.

His mother joined him as he ate and asked him questions about how he had been since he left. He told her about what happened at Viridian and at Mt. Moon. Understandably she was angry and scared for him, but she calmed down when he told her that he would try and stay as far away as he could to any danger. Though when Ash told her about what happened in Rota she was calm and started to closed her shop for a bit.

She ushered him to their house and told Ash to sit while she grabbed a few things. Curious and a bit shaken by her actions Ash sat down on the sofa and placed his egg on the able. He heard her opened the attic and climb the ladder before shuffling noises could be heard. Pikachu was just as confused as he was.

"Here we are," his mother announced as she walked back into the room. She had dust clinging to her clothes as she carried a small box over to the table and set it down.

"What's this?" Ash asked as he looked at the rather old looking and dust covered box. The tape on it was yellowed and it looked like a soft breeze would cause the box to break.

"This box has been in our family for hundreds of years," Delia said as she sat down beside her son, "It was told that it was given to our family by a many times great grandfather to be kept safe until someone with Aura was born into the family."

Ash looked up at her confused, "Why wasn't I told this?" Ash asked as he glanced back at the box.

"I was told by my mother before she passed to not speak of it until I was on my death bed," Delia explained, "Just as she did. Your Grandmother Rose told me that her father gave her this box and to pass it to me when she passed if none of her children showed having the ability to wield Aura. No one knew when a child would be born with this ability, but we knew when they did show up that this box was to be given to them. Go ahead. Open it."

Ash looked at her for a few moments before nodding and leaned over to peel the old tape off. He held in his coughing but sneezed when the dust filled his airway. Placing the tape on the table he opened the flaps carefully. Inside the box he could see a rather old book laying on something black with a yellowed letter on top of it. Reaching for the letter he carefully opened it and read the contents.

_Dear descendant,_

_As I am writing this letter the sounds of battle rage around me. I write this in hope that my dear Lucinda gets it and follows the directions I have placed. If you are reading this then you were the next born in this family to wield a power called Aura. I know that after writing this I will never get to see another sunrise and I hope that my death will not be in vain. My fellow brethren, my fellow warriors and Masters, are falling in battle and this will be my last stand._

_Onto the contents of this box. It holds vital items you need to begin your training in using Aura including my personal journal to help in your training. If you can get to Rota, hopefully there will be others there that can further your studies. Also in this box there is my cloak and my jewelry. They will help you stay hidden._

_Stay safe and journey on my descendant,_

_Sir Aaron Ketchum_

_Aura Master_

Ash sat back on the couch as he read and re-read the letter before setting it down to grab the book, but no matter what he did he couldn't open it. Slightly frustrated he put it off to the side and pulled out the jewelry the letter mentioned. There were two rings and a necklace. All three looked similar to each other as they all were made with silver and had dark blue stones placed on them. Setting them to the side he grabbed the cloak.

Delia couldn't help but let out a giggle or two as she she saw how large the cloak was compared to her smaller son. He looked like a kid trying on his fathers' clothes. Giving her a small pout for laughing at him he placed the cloak back inside the box. "I can't really take all of this with me," Ash said sitting back down, "I already have a few other books from Rota and they're taking up the majority of my bag space."

"Why don't you leave them here," Delia said as she held her son close, "Take only the beginner book you have and the journal here. When you get done with those you can exchange them for the other books."

"What about the cloak?" he asked.

"Leave it here and I'll make it into something you can actually use," she said containing her laughter. Ash nodded and sighed before gathering the items he was taking. He put the necklace on and the rings only fit on his thumbs. He switched the books out and carried them to his room where he put them in the chest at the end of his bed.

Heading back down he saw that his mother had moved to the kitchen and went to follow her. As he sat there and watched his mother make some food to go for him he pondered over Paul. He wondered what he was doing at the moment. Looking up he saw his mother packing the few things, sandwiches and chips she made into a bag before walking over to the pantry.

"Mom?" Ash asked hesitantly and waited until he had her attention, "H-How do you feel about homosexuality?" He licked his lips and turned his eyes away from her not wanting to see the look of disgust on her face. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he was concerned that it would leap out of his chest at any moment. He knew that not a lot of people liked homosexual people and he knew that if his mother didn't accept him than his heart would truly be broken.

"Ash look at me," he heard his mother say. He cleared his throat and slowly he looked back up at her and only saw love in her eyes, "Ash, are you gay?" she asked him from the other side of the island.

Ash opened his mouth before closing it. The words didn't want to leave him, but his stomach certainly threatened to come out. Swallowing around the acidic bile that threaten to expose itself he slowly nodded. "Y-Yeah," he managed to choke out and before he knew it he was being engulfed in the tightest hug he had ever gotten.

He wrapped his arms around his mother and held onto her tightly as relief swept through him after she told him she loved him. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he felt so light after confessing. "Is there a reason you decided to bring this up now?" Delia asked as she continued to hold her son close, "Its' a rather sudden thing to bring up don't you think?"

Ash let out a chuckle and nodded, "There's a guy I'm starting to like," he confessed as he pulled out his Xtransceiver to show his mom a picture of Paul. He had managed to get a picture of Paul when he was in the hospital. Paul was sitting in the guest chair sprawled out and relaxed as he read from a book. The sun had been setting and it had cast its dying rays on him through the window. His face was relaxed from its usual scowling features and it truly showed how young he was.

"He's rather handsome Ash," Delia said as she took in the boy in the picture.

"He is," Ash said as he nodded, "He even asked if he could join me in my journey, but I was going to Rota at the time and he couldn't enter the Kingdom without a pass."

"Well," Delia said after a moment of silence, "Are you going to take him up on the offer for him to join you?"

Ash looked at her then looking down at the picture. His heart fluttered as he took in the features before he replied, "Maybe I will."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

tigergirl1723, I do not think I will include Greninja in this fanfiction. I do thank you for your suggestions and will take them into consideration. I am quite partial to Dragon types so you may see more dragons in this then others. As for the Galar region pokémon, I don't think I'm going to include them unless its just a mention of another trainer having them.

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

A/N: I've decided to do something I have never seen in a pokémon fanfiction before. Keep reading to find out what it is!

* * *

Ash left his hometown with a lighter heart, but a weight on his shoulders that barred down onto him. His mind was racing over the whole Aura thing as the walked his way to Cerulean. He had Oaks' Alakazam drop him off in between the two towns instead of in Pewter. Nidoran was walking beside him excited to get some battles in while Pikachu was on his shoulder as always. Sandile didn't want to be out at the moment and his egg was tucked safely in his bag with a monitor band around it.

Ash had found out that the little egg app on his Xtransceiver was actually an egg monitoring system that was tied to a band Professor Oak had given him. The band showed him the warmth of the egg, its heartbeat, the activity within it, and approximately how close it was hatching. Needless to say Ash was quite fascinated with the technology. As he walked he fiddled with the other apps and hesitantly sent Paul a message that he was on the way to Cerulean if he wanted to meet up.

_Ding._

Ash looked over the watch and saw that small banner notification signaling he had a message and tapped on it.

_P- Already in Lavender Town, but I can be in Cerulean in a few days._

_A- No need to back track. I'll meet with you another day then. I promised my Horsea some time in the water since he's been cooped up in his ball. Was thinking of spending a few days there._

_P- I see. If you haven't left when I get to Saffron I'll head up that way then._

_A- Okay. I'll see you then._

_P- See ya._

Ash let out a sigh before shaking his head. He didn't need to get his head wrapped up in boys at the moment. He needed to get his head in the game now.

Keeping on his way he was surprised that he didn't meet many trainers, but he did fight plenty of wild pokémon and he let Nidoran fight them since he was so close to evolving. The poison type was getting antsy seeing as he was so close to evolving but the opponents he was fighting wasn't enough to trigger the evolution.

It wasn't until he was an hour away from the town that they encountered a trainer willing to battle them.

"Nidoran Quick Sting!"

The poison type let out a grunt before using Quick Attack to get in close to his opponent, a Mankey, and managed to hit it while injecting it with poison thanks to Poison Sting. The monkey pokémon let out a screech of rage before it threw its fists at Nidoran. Just barely able to dodge it Nidoran countered with a Peck attack.

"Mankey! Use Karate Chop!" the female trainer, Cheyenne, called out once she saw her Mankey dodge the peck. Letting out another screech the fighting type powered up his fist before bringing it down quickly onto Nidorans' back making the poison type let out a pain filled cry.

Getting up from where he was hit down Nidoran shook of the pain before jumping up and kicking out at the pokémon once he heard his trainer call out the attack. He managed to hit his opponent with one of his back paws but missed with the other as the monkey dodged out of the way. The irritating monkey managed to hit him a few more times before Nidoran started to get really angry.

Out of them all he was the closest to evolving and one of the strongest on the team under Pikachu. He should be doing better than this against a monkey of all things. Nidoran pawed the ground in irritation as the Mankey hit him one after another and with each hit his anger grew and so did the energy he needed to evolve. He managed to throw a Confusion out to the Mankey through the assault, but not shockingly the damn Mankey dodged.

Nidoran let out a fierce snarl before he let energy he had felt build up over the last few weeks burst out of him.

Ash watched as a white glow covered Nidoran from horn tip to tail spike. He felt his lips begin to move into a smile. The small glowing form began to grow and as harsh on the eyes the glowing was Ash kept his eyes on Nidoran as he evolved. It seemed like a long time once the glow began for it to fade away leaving dark spots in his vision, but it was really only seconds since it started for it to finish.

Nidoran, no Nidorino, stood tall as he last bits of evolutionary energy left his body leaving him in his new form. His one foot eight inch height shot up another foot and four inches leaving Nidorino almost three feet in height. His spines on his back grew as well as his ears though they looked more proportional on Nidorino than they did on Nidoran. His horn, while large on Nidoran, fit his size just fine even though it did grow with the evolution.

Nidorino let out a deep growl that caused rocks on the ground to rattle. With a smirk Ash called out an attack and with a bit of decent speed Nidorino hit the Mankey with with his horn causing the monkey to fly back and get knocked out on a tree.

"Good job Nidorino!" Ash called out once he saw that the Mankey wasn't going to get back up. The larger poison type let out a snort and shook his head before he began to examine his new larger body.

"Congrats," Cheyenne said as she gathered her fighting type in her arms. She sent the younger teen a smile and sent him the money required after a trainer battle before making her way back to town to get her starter to the center.

"Thank you!" Ash called out before she disappeared from view, "Nidorino! You did it!" Ash knelt in front of the poison type and gave his ear a scratch as he looked him over. The poison type gave him a purrish growling sound as he got scratches. Once Ash was done looking Nidorino over and recording his evolution in his journal he returned the pokémon since the poison type was tired after all the fighting he had done.

It didn't take him long afterwards to get to Cerulean.

The town was themed on water more than anything like how Pewter was themed around the rock types that naturally nested around the town. As he walked through the cobbled streets in search of the Center he took in the sights and sounds of Wingull calling out to to others. Pikachu, still perched on his shoulder, enjoyed the small breezes that went by ruffling his fur.

Ash followed the signs around the town until he was greeted to the large red and white building turning the corner and entering it he saw a familiar red head. "Hey!" she said as she waved her hand.

"Hey Eliza," Ash greeted as he stepped up to the Centers' counter, but Nurse Joy wasn't there. He assumed that she was treating Elizas' pokémon since she was the only trainer besides him in the building.

"Hey!" She greeted as she leaned on the counter before continuing her greeting, "I'm surprised."

"Surprised about what?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Eliza looked him over before replying, "That you're here. I would have guessed that you ran through here and already in Saffron. At least that's where Gary's at."

Ash looked at her with a funny look on his face, "What do you mean about that? Just because he's in Saffron doesn't mean that I have to be there too."

Just as Eliza was about to reply back Nurse Joy came back to the counter and greeted Ash. He asked for a room for the night and asked if she could look over his pokémon seeing as Nidorino evolved during a battle. He didn't want to take a chance for him not to be seen. He had read about the problems other trainers had with their pokémon after they evolved during a fight.

"So what kind of pokémon do you have already?" Eliza asked as she followed him to the waiting area. Pikachu, who didn't need to looked over by Nurse Joy, jumped down onto the couch beside his trainer and eyed the red head sitting across from them.

Ash sent her a small look, but thought nothing of it as he told her, "Pikachu, Nidorino, Sandile, Horsea, and an Egg."

Eliza looked at him with wide eyes, "How did you get an Egg!? Let alone a Sandile! They aren't from Kanto."

The dark haired teen chuckled and told her that he got Sandile in Pewter, not saying who he got it from since he didn't want her to go and nag Brock, or other gym leaders, about getting a pokémon from them. He then said he found the Egg abandoned in the wild.

"I've got Bulbasaur, she's getting so close to evolving, a Spearow, a Weedle, and a Psyduck," she said as she sat back on the couch, "I've been looking for an electric type seeing as the gym here is a Water Gym and I don't want to just rely on Bulbasaur for the Gym."

Ash thought over the pokémon in her arsenal before telling her that her Psyduck, if trained a bit to ignore its headaches, could help her in the Gym. While Spearow and Weedle wouldn't be the best choices to fight in the Gym. "From what I read a Psyducks' headache is from the build up of psychic power so that's why they're always holding their head and not really able to do much. Once they evolve they can channel the psychic power much better," he explained as he ran his hand through Pikachus' static filled fur.

"Really?!"

Ash nodded before replying, "A Psyduck can be trained to think through their headaches but it can take a while to train one to do it. Most people just give their Psyducks a Water Stone before doing any training for it."

"Huh," Eliza said as she thought over what he said, "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Welcome," Ash said as he heard his name being called. Getting up, after Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder, he walked over to the counter where Nurse Joy was with a tray with Nidorinos' ball on it. Taking the ball when it was offered he placed it on his belt while she said that while Nidorino was a bit bruised he was good and healthy.

He thanked her and said his goodbyes before leaving the center. It was time for Horsea to get some time out of his ball. He walked around town for a bit before crossing a bridge north of town and into the woods. He liked to look for spots to train where others couldn't really see him. He liked the seclusion. It helped him think.

After walking for a while he finally came across the perfect spot for them. It was a beach like with the sand close to the waters edge, but it was surrounded by forestry on one side and wide open to the water on the other side. Setting his things down and letting Pikachu jumped off he walked over to the waters edge. Kicking off his shoes and socks before changing his bottoms into his swim shorts he walked into the water and released his Horsea.

The small blue sea horse looked up at him and let out a trill before spinning around in a circle. "Afternoon Horsea!" Ash greeted as he reached out and ran his fingers over the soft fish like scales, "Want to get started on some training?"

The teen couldn't help but chuckle as the sea horse let out a louder trill. Nodding Ash asked him to show him his moves before moving onto how well his aim was. He threw small rocks into the air and asked for Horsea to hit it with Water Gun then gradually as Horsea got better he started throwing the rocks faster. It took a while for Horsea to get better at hitting the rocks when they got faster.

When Horsea was able to hit seven rocks out of ten in a session Ash called for a break. The tired sea horse ducked down into the water where Ash assumed he went to get some food. As they took their break Ash let out Nidorino and Sandile.

Nidorino, still a bit tired after evolving, settled down next to his trainer and closed his eyes ready to take a nap while Sandile let out a long hiss. Pikachu perked up and let out a chitter in response to whatever Sandile said before letting out a small yawn. Ash however, instead of letting Pikachu take a nap, told the electric mouse to run a few laps as a warm up before getting started on learning Slam once again.

Ash watched as Sandile looked around where they were before letting out a small laugh once the croc saw the sand. Sandile was quick to walk over and bury himself well enough under the warm sand so only his eyes and nose were uncovered. Ash was glad that Sandile was enjoying their time by the water.

As he sat there he looked through his pokédex. He really needed to get an idea about what kind of team he wanted. He decided to stick to his region though he wouldn't mind pokémon from other regions. His first thought was about getting a fire type. There were a few here in Kanto like Growlithe, Vulpix, Magmar, Ponyta, Flareon, and Charmander. Growlithe and Vulpix were the most common to find out of the bunch in the wild while Ponyta were more commonly found in plains or with a Ranch Breeder. Magmar had nasty tempers and could be found in the volcanoes on Cinnabar and Flareon were uncommon due to having to find an Eevee which were rare here in Kanto. Charmander, as far as he knew, could only be found as a regional starter or through a breeder since it was against the law to go hunting for them in the wild. The Charizard parents tend to be very territorial.

Ash let out a soft sigh as he continued to look through the dex. He really wanted a Charmander, but getting one through a breeder could get very expensive and he didn't have the money for it. He also didn't know any breeders.

Leaving alone for now Ash put away his pokédex before looking up some training videos. He still wasn't sure how to train a Horsea to its full potential. He hummed softly as he saw videos of people tying thing to their tails or typing heavy rocks to their necks, but none of that sit comfortably with Ash. It was something entirely different tying a rock to a tail while a pokémon was on land. Even if the pokémon were water types and could breath underwater so many things could go wrong if the rock was too heavy or if a current took the pokémon away.

Sighing softly he kept looking for a while longer before calling the research off. He wasn't getting anywhere just sitting there. Getting up he called for Sandile, who had opened his jaws to get rid of some heat his body had gathered. Slowly the croc got up and made his way over to his trainer and looked up at him.

"Okay Sandile," Ash began as he knelt beside the croc, "I need you to work on a few things before you can evolve. You're jaw strength and leg strength really need to be worked on as well as your stamina and your agility. I know you aren't going to like this, but I'll need to put weights on you while you do laps."

Sandile just let out a longer hiss before giving him a nod. He remembered the talk his trainer gave him after only having him a few hours. He stood still as his trainer tied a flat rock onto his back and made sure it wouldn't fall off before he started his laps without much else said or done. He vowed he would be the next pokémon on the team to evolve.

Ash watched him do his lap with a smile before moving to work with Horsea again. He only had them train for a bit longer before calling it a night as the sun had already set. After gathering his things and recalling his pokémon he gathered a rather tired Pikachu before heading back to the Center. He decided to challenge the Gym the next morning.

After getting to his rooms he let out his pokémon once again and let them choose their sleeping spots before starting his night time routine. He showered, brushed his teeth, and changed his clothes before setting his egg on the bedside table and grabbing his notebook and pen. After writing his pokémons' progresses under each of their sections he set his notebook aside and set an alarm on his watch. He yawned softly as he turned over in the bed and curled up close to his pokémon as he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Instead of the peaceful way Ash wanted to wake up the next morning he got woken up by the shrill ringing of his watch going off in his ear. Jumping up he blearily looked for his watch before answering the call. "'lo," he mumbled as he rubbed one eye. He ignored his Sandiles' hiss and the murmurings of his other pokémon.

"Sorry my boy," Oaks' voice said through the speakers, "I do seem to need your help once again."

Ash, more awake now, asked, "What is it?"

"Well you know where Bill's Lighthouse and Cottage is at right?"

"Yeah."

"You see, Bill has gotten himself into a predicament and he needs some help. I would have asked someone else, but you were closer," Oak said as he scratched his stubble on his chin, "He's a researcher like myself, but he likes to think more outside the ball so to speak. He managed to get himself in a pickle and now needs help."

Ash held in a sigh that really wanted to escape before nodding and replying, "Yeah. I can get there in an hour or so."

"Thank you Ash! If there is anything I can do for you let me know!"

Before Ash could open his mouth to say goodbye the old man hung up on him. Letting out the sigh he held back he stretched before getting up to get ready to leave. As he walked to the bathroom he turned off the alarm that would have rung in an hour before brushing his teeth. Quickly getting dressed in knee length shorts, a t-shirt, and his socks and shoes he grabbed his bag and recalled everyone. Letting Pikachu jump onto his shoulder he put his bag on and grabbed the key to his room before leaving.

As he walked down the stairs he shoved his hat on his head and greeted the nurse on duty before exiting the Center. He begun his journey back to the spot he trained at yesterday since the Lighthouse was just past that point.

As he had thought earlier the journey to the Lighthouse took about an hour. Going up the steps to the door he knocked on it pretty loudly to make sure that Bill could hear him. After waiting a few moments and not hearing anything on the other side of the door he opened it and stepped in. "Hello!" Ash called out, "My name is Ash Ketchum, Professor Oak sent me!"

As he walked in further he was greeted to a rather large mess and a few smoldered dark patches that Ash knew had fires on them before they were put out. Looking around quicker he tried to spot what set the fires before spotting a rather large Clefairy. It stood there for a moment before waddling closer to him and Ash just stood there. "Um," Ash said crouching down, "Hello there. Wh-Where's the human that lives here?"

Ash watched as the Clefairy gestured a few things before pointing at the computer in front of two large cylindrical tubes. Walking over there he looked at the page open on the computer and saw a few words that seemed to click everything in place. "Bill?!" Ash exclaimed as he turned to the Clefairy to which the human turned pokémon nodded. "Okay," Ash said as he shared a look with Pikachu, "What do you need me to do?"

The Clefairy, who was actually Bill, seemed to get excited as he walked over to one of the large cylinders and stepped into it. He gestured to the large green button beside the door. Walking over to it Ash pushed the button that he noticed could easily be reached from the inside and watched as he doors closed. Stepping back he saw the light show through the small window before it went dim and the door opened revealing Bill in his human form.

The brunet man stepped through the opening in and gave the teen a smile. "Thank you good sir!" Bill said as he took a deep breath, "I've been stuck like that for the last two days!"

Ash looked at the man weirdly before nodding and asking, "How?"

Bill just laughed and waved the question away not really wanting to explain it yet as he said, "Now to properly thank you! Tell me young man is there something you would like? An item or pokémon? Perhaps some money?"

Ash, still stunned and freaked out, decided to push the human turned pokémon to back to human thing out of his head just as Bill suggested a pokémon. "I didn't do this for anything. I was just asked by Professor Oak to help you out," Ash said as he followed Bill to what looked like the main area of the Lighthouse.

"Nonsense!" Bill exclaimed as he walked over to the table and sat down, "In fact! Oak told me about you and about how you are an OFRT. If you accept a pokémon from me to raise I would be more that ecstatic. You see I've gotten this curious little thing recently and I do want to see it grow up, but sadly here it wouldn't get the proper raising it needs. If would accept it and raise it for me?" Bill left the ending of the last sentence unfinished and let the silence in the air fill out the rest in Ashs' mind.

Letting out a sigh he nodded seeing as Bill wouldn't take no for an answer. "Now this pokémon hatched out of an egg not that long ago," Bill began as he led the way up the stairs of the lighthouse, "so really its still a baby. A very special baby. You see this baby was bred from a Charizard and a Garchomp. Now usually you don't see this kind of pairing in the wild, but I was lucky to receive this egg after a breeder got in touch after an accident in her nursery."

Ash listened closely to what Bill was saying, but his head short circuited after hearing about the Charizard. Was he really about to get the pokémon he had wanted before receiving Pikachu? His heart began racing a bit faster as they neared their destination.

"This pokémons' ancestry must have had a shiny within its lineage," Bill continued to explain as they reached a door, "it's rather unique in coloring and not like other shinies I have come across in my time. I have designated its coloration as complete albinism."

As Bill opened the door Ash saw a nursery kind of like what Professor Oak had in his lab. It had chew toys and ropes on the floor as well as padding so babies don't get hurt if they fell. In the center of the room was a small Charmander chewing on a rope. Ash stood in awe at it. Under the artificial lights its scales glittered a snow white in color as its bright red eyes looked over at them. Even its tail flame was the same red in color as its eyes.

With a small chirrup the Charmander got up and waddled over to Bill and started sniffing. "It's feeding time," Bill said as he walked over to the kitchen set up in the nursery and got food ready for the Charmander.

"I-I don't understand," Ash said as Pikachu jumped down to examine the baby, "H-How?"

Bill looked over at Ash and gave the shocked teen a smile before he started to explain, "You see shinies are classified as a type of albinism in pokémon like how humans can had albino features without being fully albino. Natural white hair being one indication and blue eyes being another. True albinism, or complete albinism, is much much more rare than the shiny gene. Its a complete happenstance when it appears. So many factors have to be right in order for it to happen."

Bill moved to set the bowl of baby food down for Charmander before he continued his explanation, "True albinism is a complete lack of pigmentation and it shows that with skin and hair being white while the eyes are red. In Charmanders' case his scales and nails are white while his tail flame and eyes are that shade of red."

"And you just want me to have him?!" Ash asked as if the man in front of him had lost his mind.

Bill let out a hearty laugh and nodded, "Sure. Oak vouches for you from the way he speaks about you and the fact you are an OFRT at this young of an age tells me much about you. All I ask is for updates on him."

Ashs' mouth opened and closed a few times as he looked at the eating baby. Swallowing around the lump in his throat he nodded in consent and he felt his heart begin to race fast as he spoke softly, "I'll take him."


	11. Chapter 11

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

Griffon Blackwood, yes. Psyduck and water stones. It's fanfiction for a reason.

Sakihinata, I thought it was pretty damn cute too!

* * *

The first thing Ash did after returning to the Center was let out his pokémon, besides Charmander, into his room where they could have some semblance of privacy to introduce their newest teammate. "Alright everyone," Ash said gaining the attention of his pokémon, "We got a new teammate. He's just a baby and I want to ask you all to be kind to him."

Nidorino was the first to move after Ash announced their new teammate. The larger poison type let out a small grunt and a nod while Sandile was next with a hiss and a light tail thump. Horsea trilled softly from where he was at in the tank. Pikachu, having already met their newest teammate, let out a soft cooing sound and ruffled his fur slightly.

"Thanks guys," Ash said softly as he grabbed the ball from his waist, "Well, here he is."

He lightly tapped the middle button causing the ball to open and with a red beam of light Charmander appeared with a soft growl. The albino shook slightly before peering around at his new surroundings and froze when he saw the other pokémon.

"It's alright," Ash said softly as he sent the baby a small smile, "They're your team now. Your family." The Charmander let out a small chirrup sound before turning back to the others. Surprisingly it was Sandile that approached first. Ash watched as the croc sniffed the small reptile before letting out a long low hiss before standing up tall and licked Charmanders' forehead. Slowly Charmanders' tail moved side to side before letting out a soft growl.

After Sandile, Nidorino approached to greet the baby of the group and Horsea let out a soft trill from his tank. Pikachu, having already greeted the reptile, stayed back and let the others have time with Charmander.

While the baby was getting use to the others Ash brought up his wrist with his Xtransceiver and scanned Charmander.

_Charmander Entry #004_

_The Lizard Pokémon_

_The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions and health. The stronger and brighter the flame the healthier and happier the Charmander is. The weaker the flame seek immediate help. When Charmander is happy the flame on its tail waves happily, but when mad the larger and stronger the flame is. Charmander tend to stay with their family unit for a few weeks before venturing out on their own. Though usually solitary pokémon, Charmander do tend to make their own family units when in close quarters with others for long lengths of time._

_This Charmander is male with the ability Blaze. It's current moves are, Growl, Ember, Scratch and has an egg move Dragon Tail._

_Notes: This Charmander has been put under the classification Complete Albinism and shows more inbred dragonic energy than usual Charmander._

"More dragonic energy," Ash mumbled softly under his breath, "Must be what Bill meant when he said that his parents were a Charizard and a Garchomp."

Looking up Ash saw that Charmander was sitting close to Sandile while Nidorino entertained the baby of the group. Ash let them be for a while as he went over what he wanted to do for the next Gym match. He decided to use Horsea in the beginning of the match and when the second pokémon comes out he would use Pikachu since the electric type has the advantage over the water types.

He thought Horsea would appreciate having some time in actually fighting since he was usually stuck in his ball.

With that plan in mind he started looking over moves that Horsea could learn to help him. Horsea already knew Bubble, Smokescreen, Water Gun, and Dragon Rage. Most moves Horsea would need TMs to learn, but there were a few he could learn just by working hard at it. One of which is Hydro Pump which is the next step after he learns Bubble Beam.

Once Horsea evolves it would be easier for him to learn dragon type moves like Dragon Pulse, Dragon Breath, and Dragon Dance. Until then Ash would help Horsea to get as strong as he could be.

First things first, "Horsea," Ash called out gaining the attention of his water type, "Ready for a Gym battle?"

Ash saw bright red eyes widen before the Horsea let out a loud trill and started swimming back and forth in the tank. Laughing Ash nodded and looked at the others. "Pikachu," Ash said looking at the electric type, "You'll be fighting as well. Nidorino I would let you fight, but you just evolved and you need to get more use to your body before a big fight like this. Sandile, you just wouldn't be the best type wise to fight in a water gym. I promise though that you can fight in the next gym."

Sandile just grumbled softly and gave him trainer a nod before turning to the Charmander beside him. It was obvious that the little one wasn't going to fight. Nidorino just nodded before laying down. His body was still stiff and sore from evolving and his bruises were still smarting. Charmander just looked at everyone confused.

"Do you want to see the match Charmander?" Ash asked as he saw the little lizard tilt his head in confusion. Bright red eyes looked up at him and the albino nodded slowly still unsure of what a match was.

"Let's go then," Ash said as he grabbed their balls to recall them. He shouldered his bag and let Pikachu jump up as usual before heading out. After asking Nurse Joy about the gyms' location he left the Center and turned right. He followed the path through town and stop to stare in awe of the gym.

The building was large and just on the edge of town closest to the water. Half of the building was open to the water while the rest of it was a mix of glass and brick. Most of the roof was made of glass as well and it surprised Ash seeing as they get frequent harsh storms through the area thanks to the lake affect. Walking up the path to the building he didn't really see many people around, but it didn't bother Ash.

The doors to the Gym were propped open for any visitor coming in so when Ash got closer he could see the inside of it before entering. The majority of the flooring was a pool with walkways going over the water and around the edges were stands were people could sit. Just in the opening of the door was a white desk with someone sitting behind it.

As he got closer to the desk he could see a familiar girl. Bright red hair and seafoam green eyes, Misty, if he remembered right. "Hello," he said as he approached her making her jump slightly and look up at him, "I'm here to challenge the gym."

"Oh hey!" she exclaimed as she stood up, "It's you! From the Gyarados and Mt. Moon incidents! Ash right?"

The teen nodded and gave her a small smile, "Yeah. Ash Ketchum."

Misty nodded and wrote it down on a piece of paper before ushering him to the large pool. Now that he was inside he could see that there were two elevated platform above the water and he could only assume that was where the trainers would be during the fight.

"I never really thanked you for saving me both times did I?" Misty asked as they walked towards the back of the building where he could see three other women by a few pokémon.

"It's okay," he said as he shook his head, "No need to thank me."

"But that's the thing!" Misty said earnestly, "I do need to thank you. If you hadn't saved me I wouldn't be here. Let me at least help you in some way."

Ash only frowned a small bit in response. He couldn't think of anything to say to her before they reached the three women. One had blond hair and green eyes, the one in the middle had blue hair and brown eyes, while the last one had pin hair and blue eyes.

"Ash," Misty said gaining the attention of all three women, "These are my older sisters Daisy, Violet, and Lily. Big sisters this is Ash, the person I told you about that saved me."

Daisy, the blond haired woman, smiled at him and walked forward to give him a tight hug, "Thank you so much! If you weren't there out baby sister would be gone and we wouldn't have known it," she said as she let go of him.

The blue haired woman, Violet, nodded in agreement as she added, "Like really. Thank you!"

"If there's anything we can do let us know!" Lily, the pink haired woman, said softly as she also gave him a smile.

Ash, feeling a bit overwhelmed, could only nod and clear his throat. "Um," he finally got out, "I really only want a battle really. I don't need anything. It was really just being there at the right time and really it was just Pikachu that helped both times. I couldn't have done anything without him."

"Really we insist!" Daisy said as her two sisters nodded behind her. Misty had to hide a smile as she watched her older sisters gang up on Ash to accept some form of reward. "What kind of pokémon do you have? We got loads of items and TMs!" she said as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to one of the side rooms, "Feel free to pick out a few! How about two of each? Two items and two TMs?"

Ash, having a hard time staying on his feet as he was being pulled, could only let out a small sigh and go with her. He did perk up when he heard of TMs, maybe there were a couple he could use on his pokémon to cover any holes in his team that he had at the moment. The pulling/walk didn't take long as they had finally reached a large room that had display cases and shelves along the walls. The display cases all had TMs inside of them while the shelves had various items on them.

"We mostly have TM and items for water types, but there are a few that we have that aren't for water types," Daisy said as she smile and finally let Ash go, "Feel free to look around, and when you have picked something you can just reach in and pick it up. Just let me know when you are finished so I can log them down in out inventory book!"

Nodding Ash started looking through the room. He started with the TMs first since he knew he need some time to think through the choices that was given to him. He read each and every one of them and their descriptions and he began plotting. There were many there he could use, but thanks to the TM pass Oak had given him he could get the ones he didn't pick another time in Celadon.

The scanned over them once more with that in mind and decided to grab the Scald TM and the Ice Beam TM. Nidorino and Horsea could use the Ice Beam and Horsea could also use the Scald. He would have to see if any of the others could use them, but they needed more ranged attacks and the ice type move was a bonus.

After retrieving them he looked over the items and their names since there were a few he didn't know of. Two of the items caught his eye. One was a necklace of sorts with a tear drop crystal casing and held clear blue water inside of it, it was called Mystic Water, and it helps boost water type moves. He planned on giving it to Horsea after he mastered Bubble Beam.

The other item on the other hand didn't have a name. The tag just read ? "Excuse me," Ash said as he looked over at Daisy, "Can you tell me anything about this? There isn't a name on the tag."

Daisy walked over to see what Ash was pointing at and saw the large round marble. It was about the size of a kiwi and mostly orange in color with a dual red and blue color swirl in the middle. "Oh that," she said as she turned to look at the smaller teen, "We don't know what it is. Violets' Dewgong showed up with it one day and wouldn't let us throw it out. We think it's just a marble, but Dewgong insisted we keep it. You can take it if you want. It's just gathering dust here."

"Are you sure?" Ash asked as he looked back at the marble. He knew it wasn't just a marble. It was like something was calling to him every time he looked at it.

"Yeah," she said and reached in to grab it, "Here."

When the marble landed in his palm he was surprised at how light it was. He was sure a marble of that size would be heavier than it actually was. "Thanks," he said pocketing it, "I'm done here."

Daisy gave him a smile and nodded before writing down what he had taken before leading him back to the main room of the gym. "Now," she said as she turned towards him once they had joined her sisters, "You said you wanted a battle? Well it's your lucky day! There isn't a show being put on so the Gym is free for battling. Just head up those stairs to the platform and we'll get started!"

Ash nodded and turned to go up the stairs Daisy had indicated. The stairs weren't long, but did lead up to a rather high platform above the water. He looked over to the other platform and to his surprise Misty was standing in it.

"This is a battle between Gym Challenger, Ash Ketchum, and Gym Leader Trainee, Misty Waterflower!" Lily announced from where she was by the edge of the pool just outside the psychic barriers, "This battle is a two on two and there are no substitutions. No items may be used as well and the battle ends when both pokémon on both sides are unable to battle. Gym Challenger releases first!"

Ash nodded and quickly pulled out Horseas' ball. "To battle!" he called out as he released his water type. Quickly catching the ball he saw Horsea looking determined up at Misty. He could just tell that Horsea was getting himself worked up. "Hey Misty!" he called out before she could release her pokémon.

"Yeah?"

"I got a new pokémon, a baby really, and he wanted to see a battle," Ash said, "Can I call him out?"

He saw Misty smile before she spoke, "Sure!"

Grinning he quickly pulled out Charmanders' ball and released the small albino. He ignored the shocked gasps from the others as he knelt beside the reptile. Ash told him that this was a battle and what it was for. He also said that a water battle was different than a land one and that he might not be able to see some of the fight thanks to the pokémon that might fight under the water.

He stood back up after getting a small growl from the reptile and gave Misty a thumbs up to let her know he was ready to continue.

He saw Misty nod before she released her own pokémon, "Take a splash, Staryu!" she called out and a star like pokémon appeared. It was golden-brown in color and had a large gem in the middle of its body. "Staryu Confuse Ray!"

Ash almost blanched at the move. He really hated Confuse Ray. "Dodge! Ink it up!" he called out and watched as the gem on Staryu begun to glow before letting out its attack. Thankfully Horsea dove down into the water to dodge it before popping back up and let out a spray of dark colored ink at Staryu.

The star like pokémon jumped out of the way and dove deep into the water. Ash was only able to tell Horsea to follow it and do what he wanted. He couldn't see into the water very well thanks to the florescent lighting and natural sunlight reflecting on the waters surface. Though he could see flashes of different colored lights from attacks.

He waited in tense silence for a few moments before Staryu broke the surface and hit the psychic barrier. Ash could see that the gem in the middle of its body was cracked a small bit and was dimmed down, but he didn't know if that it was knocked out or anything. He turned his eyes back down to the water and searched for Horsea. It took a few moments, but he did see the tiny sea horse in the large body of water.

"Staryu is unable to battle! Horsea wins!" Lily announced form down below, "Gym Challenger to release first!"

"Good job Horsea! Take a rest!" he called down before recalling his water type, "To battle Pikachu!"

His electric mouse let out a small chitter before rushing down the stairs and over onto one of the platforms on the water. His cheek sacs were already starting to let out small sparks in anticipation.

"Take a splash! Starmie!" Misty yelled and released another star like pokémon this time though the water type was purple with more star appendages on its back that spun rapidly as it let out a screech like call. The gem in its center glowed brightly in power.

"Pikachu start off with a Electro Ball then Agility," Ash called out as he watched the Starmie. He could tell that the purple pokémon in front of him was strong. Much stronger than the Staryu from before.

Pikachu without much further thinking threw a large condensed ball of electricity at the water type before bursting away from his spot with Agility. He kept up the Agility as his opponent readied a move.

"Starmie Psybeam!"

From the starfish came a bright purple beam straight at Pikachu. The mouse didn't know what hit him as he was slammed into the psychic barriers around the pool. He shook his head and looked over at the starfish with wide angry eyes.

His cheek pouch emitted a larger spark as he let out a powerful Thunderbolt before running right to his opponent. He was glad his trainer didn't call out any attacks at that moment as he nailed the starfish in its gem before it could move with an Iron Tail causing a spider web crack on its surface.

Pikachu used a Quick Attack to quickly move away from the water type and watched as the gems' light began to flicker in and out before it stayed on. The mouse quickly dodged another purple beam as it was sent his way and when he looked back he saw the platform he was just on was crumbling down into the water. He really didn't want to get hit with that again.

"Pikachu! Watch it!"

Looking up Pikachu saw his opponent coming at him rapidly and just managed to dodge it. The starfish landed in the water and Pikachu watched the water cautiously. Every few moments the starfish would surface and send an attack at Pikachu causing the yellow mouse to run around the platforms. Pikachu did manage to hit it a few times with his electricity and once with his Iron Tail. It was after hitting it with his Iron Tail that the Starmie didn't surface again for a while.

"Starmie! Recover!" Misty called out hoping for pokémon to hear her.

Ash's eyes widened and he shook his head. "Pikachu! Shock the water with all you have! Don't let it recover!" he yelled urgently to his pokémon praying to Arceus that Pikachu could Thunderbolt the water quick enough.

He watched as his pokémon gathered enough electricity that the usually red sac pouches shown bright pink in color with all the electricity in them. It was only a few moments later that Pikachu released it into the water causing the water to turn bright yellow end explode outward.

The light was so bright that Ash had to turn away or lose his sight.

When he turned back to look, once the light had died down, he saw Pikachu wobbling on the platform and a floating purple starfish not that far from him.

"Starmie is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" Lily announced after a moment of silence, "Challenger Ash Ketchum has won!"

Ash let out a soft breath of relief as he clutched the railing around the platform. He looked down and saw Charmander looking at the electrified battle field with wide eyes. "Hows' that for a battle?" he asked the small reptile who looked up at him with eagerness in his bright red eyes, "Maybe that can be you next time huh?"

He let out a small chuckle as he saw the baby nod frantically. Looks as though he got another battler on his hands. Without another word he picked Charmander up and carried him down the steps so he could gather Pikachu. He figured that the others had already seen the reptile so recalling him was a fruitless endeavor seeing as they would want to see him.

Setting Charmander down outside of the pool he carefully made his way to the downed Pikachu and picked him up. The poor electric type was so out of it that his fur didn't have any electricity flowing through it. "You did a good job, bud," Ash said softly as he turned around and walked back to Charmander, "Rest now."

He felt Pikachu fully relax in his arms by the time he got back to the baby of the group. Once he was back onto dry land he turned to the quickly approaching group of girls. "Congrats Ash Ketchum!" Violet said as she held out an open tiny chest that had the Cascade Badge in it, "Here's your badge for beating the Cerulean Gym."

Ash smiled and reached out to grab it, "Thank you," he said as he placed it in his badge container.

"So Ash," Lily said casting a look down at the baby reptile, "What's this?"

"Just a baby Charmander," Ash said downplaying the actual reason for the question as he held back a smile. Lily just looked at him disgruntled until he said that Bill had told him it was a gene in Charmander that made him look as he does. Small sounds of understanding was heard as the four girls took in what he was saying.

It took thirty minutes just to leave the Gym after the girls had seen the Charmander and Ash couldn't get the giggles, squeals, and cooing out of his head as they admired the baby. In the end he had to return Charmander and quickly dash out of the Gym. He knew that wasn't going to be the last of it if the four had their way.

After leaving the Gym a whole badge heavier he made his way to the Center to get Pikachu looked over. He didn't like the way that Pikachu wasn't responding. He hoped that it was just because the mouse was tired.

"He just needs his electrical pouch filled back up with electricity," Nurse Joy told him half an hour later after Pikachu and Horsea was taken back, "There's a feeding station in the cafeteria for electric types. After a bit of eating he'll be up and perky again!"

Ash let out a soft sigh and nodded as he thanked the nurse, "Thank you Nurse Joy!"

"No problem," she said sending the obviously worried boy a smile, "Your Horsea is fantastic. Just a few bruises and a scratch at the base of his tail, but it has all been healed."

"Great!" Ash said as he took the ball back and picked up Pikachu, "Thanks once again!" He sent her a small smile before heading to the cafeteria. It wasn't until he heard his own stomach rumble that he checked the time and saw that it was well past noon. He released his other pokémon to get them something to eat as he got his own food. As he ate he watched as Pikachu greedily sucked up electricity from the machine meant for electric types.

After everyone was done he gathered them all again and head back up to his room only to release them there. "Alright everyone!" Ash said as he sat down on the edge of his bed, "We took on the Cerulean Gym and won! We got that Cascade Badge thanks to Horsea and Pikachu!"

Pikachu let out a small whirring noise as Horsea pushed out his chest and preened. The small water type was exceedingly happy that he won his first battle with his trainer.

Ash let them have their moment for a bit longer before continuing what he was saying, "I've decided that we will leave the day after tomorrow. Next Gym battle is in Vermilion, but to get there we have to go through Saffron. So get some rest because after tomorrow is a long journey to Vermilion."

He sat back in the bed and watched as Charmander growled out what he thought was an iteration of what the battle was like for him today. He smiled at them as the others listened to the baby. He would let them relax for the rest of the day and tomorrow. They deserved it before they set out for their next stepping stone to the League. Lt. Surge better watch out. He was coming and he was determined to beat him.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

LyraHollow, correct! It is a Lucarionite!

A/N: I promise this is the end of Ash getting new pokemon... for the moment at least. Feel free to leave suggestions in a review for potential pokemon for Ash for the future!

* * *

Ash and his team had been on the road for the last week after leaving Cerulean. During the last week he started training Charmander since the small reptile had gotten himself worked up after seeing the last gym battle. The dark haired teen wasn't sure if he would put Charmander against Surge, but most likely he wouldn't seeing as he was just a baby and he knew Surge was hard to beat.

He had just sat down under a tree for a break when his Xtransceiver rang. Nidorino perked up as he heard the noise but then laid down when he saw it was just his trainers' wrist making noise. Bringing his wrist up as saw that it was his mother calling and he quickly answered it. He knew better than to ignore calls from the Professor.

"Ash!" Oak looked at the dark haired trainer on the line with a wide smile on his face, "How are you doing?"

Ash sent him a smile before saying he was doing good and that his egg was close to hatching if the band around his egg was reading everything right. He had been obsessing over the little monitoring app after the conditions of the egg changed a few days ago. It went from saying the baby inside was moving a small bit to it moving more often. He knew, from learning from said old man on the line, that an egg was really close to hatching when the baby inside the egg moved a lot.

"That's fantastic!" Oak said as he clasped his hands together, "So where are you heading now?"

"I'm about two hours out from Saffron," Ash said as he pulled up the map on his 'dex.

"Great! I need you to do something, but don't worry! It's for you," Oak replied before he began to explain what he needed, "Recently the police in the area as well as a few Ace Trainers had raided a building in the outskirts of the town. When they got there the conditions of the pokémon that were being held there was appalling. They've been calling around for trust worthy trainers to take in the pokémon that were healthy enough to be taken. I was hoping you were open to receiving one of them?"

Ash bit his lip as he listened to Oak. He wasn't so sure he could take another pokémon at the moment. He had just gotten Charmander and his egg was due to hatch any day now, but this was what the professor was paying him for. "Okay," Ash said agreeing to take in one of the pokémon, "Do you know what kind it is?"

Oak shook his head as he replied, "All I know is that it is one of the worse treated pokémon in the bunch and that it is a psychic type. The police chief, Julia Jenny, said that it was very timid and easily frightened."

Ash nodded and asked where he was to get the pokémon before the call ended. Oak told him that he would call ahead and let the police know he was coming to get the pokémon in question. With that he got up and continued on his way to the city.

He kept Nidorino out with him as well as Pikachu, as usual. They didn't rush too much since they were enjoying the nice breeze and sunlight that filtered through the trees. As they walked Ash looked up what he could find about the city they were about to enter.

Saffron City was the largest and busiest city in Kanto, but it wasn't hard to believe since the Metro Train was there. The train connected Kanto and Johto together. Not only was it busy because of the massive center building, Silph Co. From what he learned growing up was that Silph Co. was the main manufacturer of many of the tool they used today. They created the pokéballs, TMs, Silph Scope, and Potions. He knew there were others, but those were the ones he knew of on the top of his head.

From looking at the city map he saw that while Silph Co. had taken over the middle of the city the Pokémon Gyms had dominated in the north east. Only one of the gyms though was the official Indigo League Gym where trainers, like himself, would go and battle for a chance to get a badge for the Indigo League. He knew he wasn't even close to being able to fight Sabrina, if all the rumors are true.

He had just made it into the City by the time he thought he would, and he was a bit overwhelmed. The city was loud and bustling. It was really different than Pallet or the other towns he had been in. Ash took his time getting through crowds and other people that just wanted to get in his way, but instead of yelling at them he stayed quiet. He didn't want to cause any trouble.

Soon enough he was standing in front of the police station and had already recalled Nidorino, who had been pressing himself against Ash to give his trainer a small bit of comfort. He told Pikachu to hop into his bag since it was common sense to not take a released pokémon into a police station. That was just begging for trouble.

Taking a deep breath he walked into the building and greeted to the sight and sounds of a trainer yelling at an officer. The trainer was tall and had wavy blue hair that fell into dark colored eyes. He wore sunglasses in his hair and a bright pink shirt with a brown tasseled vest on it and a red scarf around his neck. He also wore black pants and trainer shoes on his feet. He had his arms crossed over his chest and an enraged, but smug look on his face as he yelled at the officer.

"I told ya! I had nothing to do with it!" he yelled before letting out a huff of air, "It's not mine I tell ya!"

The officer, a kind looking man with dark brown hair and green eyes, simply said, "He is. He's under your registry and so therefore you are to take the blame on his condition and kidnapping."

"And I told you fucker! He's not mine!"

The officer quickly lost his kind look, "I think a night in the cells will do you some good," he said before motioning to a different officer that had handcuffs in her hands to take him back. Ash watched as the older teen was quickly cuffed and taken to the back still screaming at the top of his lungs that his father would hear about this.

"I'm sorry about that," a female voice said behind Ash causing him a jerk a small bit before turning around, "How can I help you?"

The officer had teal colored hair and rather pretty amber eyes, "I'm looking for Officer Jenny," Ash said softly, "Professor Oak called ahead for me."

Bright amber eyes brightened more as he spoke, "I'm Officer Jenny. I have the pokémon in my office if you'll follow me," she said before turning around to lead him to her office. He walked a bit behind her as she led him up the stairs to one of the further offices. As they walked, in silence, he noticed he was just a bit taller than she was and it surprised him a small bit. He must have grown a bit since leaving home.

"Here we are," Jenny said breaking Ash of his thoughts. She opened the door after scanning her card on the reader outside of her door, "Now how much had Oak told you of the pokémon?"

Ash walked in as he spoke, "Just that it was a psychic and rather timid and scared."

Jenny nodded and grabbed the ball which he assumed the pokémon was in. "When we raided the house we found this little girl locked away in a room by herself in a too small of a cage. She was injured and had previous scars on her body from what Nurse Joy says, but other than that she was just really under nourished. She must have been a recent acquisition. I don't really need to question you if what Professor Oak is saying about you is true. All I ask is that you bring her back after a while so we can get an update on her," she said softly before turning her computer on to register the pokémon under Ash.

He nodded and promised the officer that he would bring her back. He was honestly curious to what kind of pokémon she was. She would be his first little girl in the family. It was only after she was done registering his newest family member that he asked what was going on with the trainer downstairs. He wasn't going to press Jenny if she wouldn't tell him because honestly it wasn't his business. He was just being curious.

"Honestly," Jenny said as she leaned back in her chair, "He's a person who shouldn't own any pokémon. This is his second time, at least being caught, that he has treated his pokémon so bad and then just abandoned it just because he deemed it too weak. This time though he actually kidnapped the pokémon three months ago from a shady lab up north. Of course we didn't know it was a shady lab until after trying to return the pokémon. Needless to say it was taken down, the owners fined and jailed, and many pokémon in need to be put down due to what the owner had done."

Ash was silent after she had spoken. He honestly wondered how people could just be so nasty to another being. He couldn't fathom it. "C-Can I have it? If it needs a home?" he asked softly although he knew he had just gotten a pokémon in need of her own attention, but he couldn't stomach just leaving it if it needed help. He did need to be careful though with the amount of pokémon he was getting he only had a few more spots on his team if he gets this one.

He stayed quiet as Jenny looked him over. Her eyes were filled with a calculating look as she determined what his angle was. After a few moments of silence she broke it by saying, "You'll have to talk to Officer De'Galos. He's in charge of the case."

Ash nodded, "The Officer that the blue haired guy was yelling at?" When he got a nod he stood up, ball in hand, and walked out of the room with officer Jenny behind him following until they reached the main floor of the police station. Before he could approach Officer De'Galos, Jenny, approached him and spoke to him in soft tones. He watched as green eyes looked at him a few times as Jenny spoke to him before he opened his mouth.

They conversed for a while before the duo started his way. He felt Pikachu move in his bag a bit before settling down and he guessed the electric was picking up his nervousness. "So Officer Jenny here says you're interested on taking on another pokémon?" De'Galos said as he came to a stop in front of Ash. He was a bit taller than him making Ash peer up as he spoke.

"Yes," he said confidently with a sharp nod.

"If you are to take this one there's a few things you're gonna need to know," the officer said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "it's not a native to Kanto and was abandoned about a week ago chained up and unable to hunt. Ever since we took him in he's shown aggressive tendencies and isn't afraid to take a bite out of someone."

Ash stared at De'Galos in his eyes as he spoke, "I'm sure I'll take him. In my team I've got a male Sandile with Moxie. If I can handle him I can handle a bit of an aggressive and neglected pokémon."

De'Galos and himself starred at each other for a few moments as Jenny watched them, her eyes going back and forth between them like watching a tennis match. Ash didn't look away. He stood his ground as the harsh gaze of the taller officer looked into his own eyes. Ash couldn't really tell what the officer was looking for in him, but he guessed he passed as the officers' gaze softened and a smile graced his lips.

"All right," De'Galos said as his stance relaxed, "The pokémon is currently under Nurse Joys' care at the Center. Give me a few minutes and we'll go together."

Ash nodded as he smiled back. He moved over to the seating area and took a seat to wait for De'Galos to finish what he needed to. As the officer said it didn't take long at all for De'Galos to finish what he needed to do and so they, meaning De'Galos, himself, and Jenny were on the way to the Center. As they walked Ash tried his best to ignore the looks they were given and he guessed it was a site. A small teen walking between two officers.

The walk wasn't a long one, but it was long enough for Pikachu to finally get enough of being in the bag. The small mouse climbed out and got back on his usual perch on Ashs' shoulders. The sudden appearance prompted Jenny to ask what other pokémon he had besides the Sandile he told them about. The conversation about his pokémon lasted long enough for them to enter the Center and for De'Galos to speak with Joy.

It wasn't long after that; that they were taken to one of the back rooms were the wall with the door had a large window of glass in the middle of the wall. As Ash looked through the glass he didn't see anything, but a rather comfortable bed and some torn up toys. The food and water bowls were toppled over and empty while stuffing littered the floor, but nothing gave away what pokémon was in the room.

"Okay," Joy said as she brought her key ring out and turned to look at them, "This is the room. Who's all going in?"

Before the officers could say anything Ash cut in, "If I may," he began, "I want to go in by myself." Ash could see the incredulous looks on their faces and he continued speaking before they could say anything, "If what you've been yelling me about him is true then he's being aggressive because he's scared. The more people in his space the more aggressive he'll be because all of a sudden his safe space is being invaded by what he deems as danger. I want to go in by myself."

He looked at both officers and the nurse as they shared looks between the three of them. A few tense moments passed before they agreed to let him in by himself. He shrugged his bag off his shoulders and told Pikachu to stay there and guard he bag as Nurse Joy unlocked the door with a soft click. She stepped back as he stepped forward and grabbed the knob.

He took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door and then closed it behind himself as he fully stepped into the room. There wasn't any kind of scent to the room that could tell him what kind of pokémon was in there with him so he walked a few steps into the room and sat down on the floor.

Ash sat still as his eyes slowly looked across the room. He kept his body as relaxed as he could. He knew he was being watched and it wasn't only by the trio of humans outside the glass, which he was surprised to note that it like a mirror only showing him the inside of the room instead of outside into the hall.

He sat there for what seemed like a while before a soft shuffling sound reached his ears from behind him. He didn't move though. He wanted the mystery pokémon to get comfortable with him being in the room. He wasn't doing anything to set him off.

Slowly the pokémon appeared in his vision as it walked around him observing Ash. The small four legged creature had slate gray fur covering most of his body and had black and red accents through the gray fur. His ears were triangular with dark insides, and he has a large tuft of fur tipped with red on top of his head.

Bright sky blue eyes peered at him with a cautious look in his eyes. Ash could see that the fox like creature had red fur covered eyelids and two circular red markings above his eyes. Around his neck was a thick covering of black fur and each of his legs were tipped with red giving him red paws. His tail, also tipped red, and short and fluffy looking.

Ash now knew what the mystery pokémon was. He had seen it only once on tv.

Ash made no movement as the tiny fox slowly made his way closer to him. He watched as the little fox stretched as far as he could to catch his scent before jumping back as Ash slowly extended his hand. Ash stopped moving his hand as the pokémon let out a growl. "It's okay," Ash whispered as he looked at him kindly, "I won't hurt you."

Bright blue eyes looked up and looked into his eyes, but Ash didn't look away. "Do you want to come with me?" Ash asked softly, "Want to become part of my family?"

Ash watched as large blue eyes widened at the word family. It was then that Ash knew that was all this little pokémon wanted. He watched as the small fluffy tail moved slightly in a half hearted attempt at a wag before he took a step forward. Ash once again stayed still as the fox like pokémon settled into his lap and it was only when he let out soft purrs that Ash moved his hand to cover the slate grey midsection.

He was horrified to feel his ribs under his hand as he ran his fingers through surprisingly soft fur. "Thank you," Ash said softly catching the pokémons' attention, "For giving me this ounce of trust. I promise I won't break it. Welcome to the family, Zorua."


	13. Chapter 13

Hey Nuggies! Well I really shouldn't be doing this, but here I am writing another fanfiction since I have writers block on a few of my other ones, and because this won't leave me alone. Here is your warning this will be SLASH! Not to sure on if it'll be M!Preg or not, but at this current moment I have not thought about it.

Main Pairing: AshxPaul

Side pairing: AshxGary (One sided on Gary's part)

Rating: M (to be safe)

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon it belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, The Pokemon Company, etc, nor do I write this for profit. This is for entertainment use only.

Enjoy my little nuggies! And please don't forget to leave a review they give me motivation to keep writing!

Thor94, if you had actually read and comprehended the chapter you would have read that Ash was given the psychic type right before going to see Zorua.

Sakihinata, it really is in his nature. One of his best qualities.

Griffon Blackwood, you'll see that Ash is just full of interesting things.

Gouravsilentreader, glad you're loving it.

A/N: So quick question! What kind of ghost pokémon do you want Ash to have? It can be from any region. I just want to see what y'all think about what ghost pokémon would fit in the team Ash has. Pure or dual types are welcome for suggestions!

* * *

Ash was sitting in his room at the Center after coming back from the police station. His other pokémon had already met Zorua and had taken him in as well as they did with Charmander. The only one left to be seen was his little girl. The original reason he went to the police station.

He was rolling her ball in his hand as the others played around at his feet, well except for Sandile. The small croc was sunning himself by the windows with his jaws open to release heat. He only took a few moments before pressing the button on the ball and finally releasing his little girl. What appeared left his jaw dropped.

The first thing he noticed was the bright blue hair on her head that was cut into a bowl cut before the humanoid shape took him by surprise since his other pokémon didn't have humanoid bodies. The next thing he saw was the two orange horns parting her hair in the middle with the larger horn in the front. It looked as though she was wearing a long nightgown over her body and when Ash looked back up towards her head he saw two bright orange amber colored eyes peaking out from behind blue hair.

As he took in her appearance he also noticed the small scars officer Jenny mentioned as well as the few fresh scrapes she had. "Hi," Ash said softly so he didn't scare her as he smiled down at her, "My name's Ash. I'm going to be taking care of you from now on."

The tiny shiny Ralts held her skinny arms to her chest and trilled out a soft tune that sounded like softly chiming bells. Behind her his other pokémon stopped to look at her. Her voice was so soft and sounded angelic. Pikachu perked up and hopped over to stand by Ash and let out his own chittering sound. He turned back to Ash and mimicked hitting his arm a few times before pointing at the little shiny.

It took a moment before Ash figured out what Pikachu was trying to reenact. He looked at her wide eyed and told her that he wasn't going to hurt her in anyway and that she was going to be a part of their family. If she wanted to that is.

The next thing he knew he had his arms full of his little girl and she was crying, but he knew it wasn't from her being sad. She was happy. He just held her until she was calmed down. Afterwards he kept holding her as she was quite content on staying in his lap to be close to him. He did manage to get his Xtransceiver to scan her.

_Ralts #280_

_The Feeling Pokémon_

_Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition. Ralts can also sense when a person or pokémon are hostile. If Ralts is feeling negative emotions for too long then it can become sick and must get treatment immediately._

_This Ralts is female and knows the moves, Teleport, Psychic, Draining Kiss, Hypnosis, and Shadow Ball. This Ralts also has the egg move, Disable._

_Its ability is Synchronize._

_Note: This Ralts is under the classification Shiny._

Ash hummed softly as he looked over her stats and move set once more before looking down at her. He couldn't help but let a smile grace his lips as he saw that she had fallen asleep in his lap. Her small chest moved up and down and with each breath of air out her soft blue hair moved up just a small bit with her breathing before falling back down onto her face.

"Zorua," Ash whispered gaining the small foxs' attention and he waved his wrist showing him the Xtransceiver. He asked the small fox to sit still for just a moment as he scanned him so he could get Zoruas' information.

_Zorua #570_

_The Tricky Fox Pokémon_

_Zorua tend to protect themselves from danger so they hide their true identities by transforming into people and Pokémon. Zorua usually choose to take the form of a small quiet child and to escape from a enemy they take their enemy's form to confuse them. When not in their pack/family they like to stay transformed to keep themselves safe._

_This Zorua is male and knows the moves, Fury Swipes, Assurance, Protect, and Dark Pulse. Zorua also has an egg move, Extrasensory._

_Its has the ability Illusion._

"That's unusual," Ash murmured softly as he saw the egg move, "A dark type with a psychic type move." He licked his lip softly before he started taking notes to get his two new family members up to where the others were besides Charmander. He was just a baby after all.

Pikachu was so close to learning Slam. The craters he left in the ground were getting bigger and bigger. Ash guessed that the ketchup covered treats he was giving the electric mouse was a great motivator. The next step after the electric mouse masters Slam is to slowly start to add electricity around him like a ball. He had to most confidence in his starter.

Nidorino, now that he has gotten use to his new body, has made fantastic progress. Ash had even decided to give him a new task in completing a new combo move, Poison Drill, which was a mix of Horn Drill and Poison Sting. Nidorino was already excelling in using his poison and all he needed to do was hone Horn Drill while releasing his poison. Ash had told Nidorino that he had another new move for him when the purple reptile could prove it to him that he deserved it.

Sandile had to be upgraded from the flat rock he had been using to a larger rock once the croc had shown him that he was getting use to the weight and was getting faster. He also had Sandile chewing on ice every now and then to get the croc use to the cold, which was hard for him considering he was reptilian and preferred the hotter dry climates, so he could start learning Ice Fang.

Horsea was getting closer to learning Bubble Beam. Slowly but surely the Water Gun/Bubble technique that the seahorse created to use was paying off and Ash had promised him a new move along with the Mystic Water when he mastered the move. That just made the dragon pokémon more determined.

Charmander, Ralts, and Zorua would all start off at the same pace unless they show that they could advance to a more harder training. He was thinking of letting Ralts, unless she says other wise, be the healer of the group. While he did want her to learn to fight, if only to defend herself, he knew with her past of abuse and how timid and shy she was she wouldn't be much of a fighter. Unless she proved him wrong that is.

Zorua, he could see as a rather sneaky heavy hitter. With his ability with illusions and able to blend into the background, Zorua, could become one of the more formidable fighters on his team. He would have to learn to help Zorua master his illusions further and how to use them better in a battle. Until then Zorua needed to work on the basics.

Charmander, while he has already started his training, was still a beginner. Ash was tempted to ask Horsea if he could teach Charmander Dragon Rage, but he didn't want to rush Charmanders' training. The little albino needed to foremost learn how to use his legs without tripping over himself. Ash has had to comfort the tiny lizard a few times in the last couple of days after the albino had tripped over his own feet and slammed down on the ground.

His egg hatching was honestly on the back burner of his thoughts. He was already mentally, physically, and had plenty of materials prepared for the Riolus' arrival whenever it was. He had plenty of baby blankets for the first couple of weeks of its life before the Riolu could be placed in a ball. He had chew toys, a mixed formula that was recommended to him by Oak, and a few other items to keep it entertained while they trained. Oak had even suggested he read a book for first time baby pokémon caregivers.

Needless to say he had downloaded it onto his Xtransceiver right after getting off the phone with Oak.

With plans in place Ash was quick to leave Saffron to continue onto Vermilion. He had the paths he wanted to take planned out along with rest stops and he had even looked at the weather for the next week of travel. He was just glad it would be bright and sunny for the majority of his travel.

Surprisingly Zorua wanted to stay out of his ball with Sandile and Pikachu while they walked along the paths. The small fox did keep behind him though, but Ash counted it as a sign that the little pokémon trusted him enough to stay out and close like this.

It wasn't until early evening that Ash decided to stop for the night on one of the planned stops he had planned out earlier. Sadly it wasn't near a pond so he couldn't release Horsea, but he was able to release everyone else. After settling everyone down and getting a fire going he settled onto his sleeping bag.

He gave Zorua and Sandile a bit more food than the others when he got them dinner seeing as they were the ones out and about all day since they left Saffron, and all Pikachu did was ride on his shoulder. As they ate Ash decided to read a bit of the journal of his many times grandfather.

_March XX, XXXX_

_Day one of training._

_Today marks the first day of Aura training for me. My Mentor, Master Roque, told me to keep a journal from now on. He said that it would/could guide the next generation of Aura wielders and that it was better to write in it everyday than wait until later when the memories of the time were too old to recall perfectly._

_I should introduce myself then, if someone in the future is indeed reading this. My name is Aaron Red Ketchum and I am sixteen years old at the time my training began. I've been residing in the Kingdom of Rota for the past two years after my mother relocated us from our small village near the southern coast._

_The Aura Guardians of the Kingdom quickly noticed I had the gift and separated me from my mother to begin my training. _

_Today, for the first day of training, Master Roque explained what Aura was and why some people could use it while others couldn't. He said that the people chosen to wield Aura were chosen by Arceus to keep the balance of everything living. He said it with so much conviction I'm sure he could even convince the hardiest of skeptics._

_The next lesson I had to learn was how to meditate properly._

_The first time I meditated I had sunk too deep into the Aura that filled my very core. It was all consuming and I couldn't tell what was up and what was down. I do highly suggest meditating with another person there to wake you up. Master Roque warned me that if I sink too low into it I wouldn't be able to get out of it. He said there were many that had sunk in to low and they never came out of it. _

_He then showed me the medical facility that held those that had fallen deep into the vastness of Aura. He said there were even some there that had fallen into their comas years ago._

_Needless to say, I learned my lesson with that visit._

_End of day one of training._

_A. R.K._

Ash took a deep breath as he looked up from the book. He quickly grabbed a blank notebook and began to write what he could interpret from the text along with some questions he would find the answers for. Now he knew he needed to be with someone before he started his training, but that just gave him time to keep reading and gathering information. His ancestor didn't write anything about how to meditate so he needed to look that up as well. Ash was sure it was just more than sitting down with his legs crossed and closing his eyes like he had seen on tv before.

After finishing his writing he packed it away at the bottom of his bag under his egg along with the journal. He would read another entry the next time they stopped to sleep. Speaking of sleep Ash looked up and saw his pokémon had already chosen their sleeping companions and were already deeply asleep. The only two not asleep was little Ralts and Sandile, who was keeping watch like he usually does. His little girl was sitting next to him and leaning over onto his leg.

He gave her a small smile before picking her up to hold her close. "Ready to sleep?" Ash whispered softly into her hair as his hand covered her back. He felt her nod as she clung onto him and slowly he moved them both down into a lying position with him on his side and her snuggled close to himself.

"Goodnight, sweetpea," Ash whispered softly before closing his eyes and slowly falling asleep.

* * *

It was close to the middle of the next day when Ash was able to battle something other than the usual wild pokémon around him in which Zorua and Charmander had fought them off. Travis, his opponent, was actually the one to approach him while he was resting for a battle. He was getting ready to battle Surge and needed as much practice as he could get.

Travis had told him that he had already lost to the man once before.

Intrigued Ash agreed to the battle and quickly sent Sandile onto the battle field seeing as the croc was going to be the main battler during the Vermilion Gym battles.

The pokémon Travis sent out was tiny and covered in a green leaf like dress. On its hands were two different colored flowers and on its head were sharp looking leaves in the shape of a crown. "Roselia! Razor Leaf!"

"Underground Sandile!" Ash called out as he saw the two flowers glow brightly before a large wall of razor sharp leaves came barreling towards Sandile. His small croc was quick to dig into the earth, but a few leaves did manage to leave their marks on his tail. Ash waited on giving him commands as the attack ended. After a moment of silence he knew that Travis was waiting on him to start of.

Ash kept silent except for a stomp to the ground. This was something he was working on with Sandile since the croc battled best when underground. While his hearing was good; his sensing of vibrations was even better. Sandile already knew where he was and if Sandile could tell what Ash wanted with a stomp it would give them a one up on land battles because their opponent wouldn't know what they had planned next.

Just like in training Sandile burst out of the ground with his jaws gaping revealing each pearly white sharp tooth ready to sink into its prey. Ash managed to see embers sparking through the razor sharp teeth before they sunk into the soft leafy body of Roselia causing the grass type to cry out as flames escaped from his bite.

Before Sandile could whip his head back and forth, like he would have done after capturing his prey, the Roselia used Protect along with Poison Sting to get him away. Sandile hissed as sharp hypodermic needles filled with poison pierced his skin around his mouth. He was more concentrated on getting the irritating needles out of his skin than he was paying attention to his opponent. He wasn't able to dodge the Razor Leaf even though his trainer shouted at him to move.

Ash watched as his croc was blasted back towards himself and before Ash could call off the battle as a loss to himself Sandile stood up and let out a loud snarl. Sandile picked himself up and ran as fast as he could at his opponent, about to be turned prey, and used Assurance with as much power his poisoned body could handle.

Ash heard Travis call out a move, but it was too late as the Assurance had already hit sending the small grass type back and into a tree. His Sandile was about to charge once again before Ash commanded him to hold, and while Sandile didn't charge the command did make him mad. The croc was banging his tail onto the ground causing craters and cracks to form where he was hitting.

"Roselia is out!" Travis called from where he was beside his partner, "You win!"

Ash let out a small sigh as he slowly approached his Sandile. He could see the red haze over the dark eyes showing him that Moxie was running its course through the small croc. "Sandile," Ash said softly gaining the growling crocs' attention, "You did great. You won!"

Ash saw that his soft words were having a good calming affect on the croc so he kept at it until the red haze left the dark eyes and Sandiles' body sagged down onto the ground. He slowly reached over and ran his hand over the heated scales before picking the tired pokémon up. The small croc deserved some meat tonight after his victory.

Getting up and turning around he saw that Travis had already revived his Roselia and after giving over the agreed upon money the other trainer left while murmuring about needing to get stronger.

Letting out a deep sigh Ash continued on walking after recalling Sandile into his ball so the croc could get some rest. He was frustrated with himself. He's been working with Sandile with his Moxie, but they've had no luck.

So far they've gotten lucky with him being able to calm down the croc, but Ash was worried if the next time Sandile was being filled with Moxie was the last one. He could honestly say that he was terrified that Sandile wouldn't listen to him or that he was too late to calm the croc down and he tore into his opponent. He was scared that Sandile would be taken from him if it happened.

He honestly didn't know how to help Sandile control himself through it.

A sharp bark broke him from his downward spiral of thoughts and looking down Ash saw Zorua looking up at him. His fluffy tail moved back and forth a small bit once he got his trainers' attention. He gave the little fox a smile and knelt to scratch behind his ear as he thanked him for breaking him out of his thoughts.

Feeling a small bit better Ash continued on.

* * *

"Gyaaah!"

The sudden scream that broke the usual noise of forestry startled Ash and his pokémon. They were almost to Vermilion having traveled constantly over the last few days with as little breaks his body could take, just an hour out from the town, when Ash decided to make a stop by a shaded pond so Horsea could get out of his ball before entering the town.

Ash shot up from where he was under a tree by the pond and started looking around for the scream when he heard it again. He recalled all of his pokémon except for Pikachu before he started running towards the scream.

The teen heard the sounds of running and branches breaking before he broke through trees to a clearing. In the clearing was a small child being surrounded by Raticate. The pack of large rat like pokémon looked to be angry over something or another and just as the lead Raticate, the largest and most scarred of the pack, lunged at the child Ash sent out Pikachu to intercept.

In a quick thought Ash sent out Sandile and Nidorino to help the electric mouse as he picked up the small tot and moved back. "Nidorino, use your poison! Pikachu, shock them all! Sandile, trap them!" he called out as he saw that they were herding the pack together.

Just as he saw Sandile disappear into the ground he turned to the small child in his arms. He had bright blue eyes and a head full of light brown hair. The child couldn't be older than five.

"Are you okay?" Ash asked as he looked over the boy to make sure he wasn't too badly injured. There were a few bruises popping up and a scratch here and there, but they had already stopped bleeding and didn't look bad.

"Uh-huh," the small child said as he clung onto Ash.

"What's your name?" he asked as he glanced over to his pokémon, who had finally knocked out the pack of rats, before turning to the kid, "My name is Ash."

"Leon," the blond haired tot said softly, "I wanna go home."

Ash stood up and put the child on his hip as he nodded and asked where home was as he started walking back to where he was before he heard the screaming. Leon told him he was staying in Vermilion with his Uncle while his Mommy and Daddy was working on a big ship.

Leon then told him that he left the Gym his Uncle worked at when he saw the cutest pokémon across the street and when he went to get a closer look at it the big mean pokémon chased him away and out of the town. "I was soooo scared!" Leon said as he looked at his rescuer with big bright blue eyes.

"It's okay now," Ash said as he gave the small tot a smile, "You're safe now and will be home soon. We don't have that much longer until we get to Vermilion."

By the time they made it to Vermilion the town was in chaos. There were police officers everywhere and several electric type pokémon running around. Confused as to what was happening Ash continued on walking with Leon still on his hip and he just made it before the Center when he was stopped by a large pokémon.

The pokémon was covered in dark orange fur, but had a white belly. Its large ears were brown on the outside while yellow on the inside and it had a long tail with a lightning bolt at the end. Pikachu looked at its evolution curiously from his shoulder as the Raichu looked at the child on his trainers hip to his trainer.

The larger electric mouse let out a hiss and made its cheeks spark dangerously while glaring at Ash.

"Rai!" Leon called out happily and bounced on Ashs' hip, "Down Ash!"

Slowly, as to not make the Raichu angrier, Ash let Leon down. It seemed as though the little kid knew this pokémon and he knew better than to make a pokémon that was showing aggression more angry. Leon let out a small giggle and embraced the Raichu once it stopped making its cheek sacs spark.

"Who are you?" A deep booming voice said from behind Ash, "And why do you have my nephew?!"

Turning around Ash was met with a broad chest. Following the muscled shirt covered chest he met bright blue eyes on a scowling face. He could recognize that face anywhere.

The uncle of the kid he just saved was Lt. Surge.


End file.
